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IVhen  you  leave,  please  leave  this  hook 

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THE    BETTER 
NEIV  YORK 

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THE    RESOURCES   AND  ^ 

PROGRESS    OF    NEW   YORK 

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I 

The  Better  New  York  may  be  ordered  from 

American     Institute     of    Social     Service 
287    Fourth    Avenue,    NEW   YORK 

Or  of  K    S.  Leonard,  Circulation  Manager,  615  Temple  Court,  New  York 


The  American  Institute  of 
Social  Service 

A  CLEARING  HOUSE   FOR   FACTS  AND  IDEAS  ON 
SOCIAL  AND    INDUSTRIAL   BETTERMENT 

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and,  where  they  can,  also  with  their  purses,  aid  in  pushing  it  forward, and 
thereby  hasten  the  progress  of  civilization  and  the  uplifting  of  humanity.'* 

THEODORE    ROOSEVELT. 

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Address,. 
Date, 


Frontispiece— Divisions  of  the  Better  New  York* 


The  BETTER 
NEW  YORK 

By   DR.    WM.   H.    TOLMAN 

Director  American  Institute  of  Social  Service  j  Chevalier  de  la 
Legion  D'Honncur;  Corresponding  Member  of  the  Imperial  and 
Royal  Technical  Trade  Museum,  Vienna  j  American  Corre- 
spondent   of   the  Musee    Social,    Paris  j    Etc..    Etc., 

and   CHARLES    HEMSTREET 

Author  of  "  Nooks  and  Corners  of  Old  New  York,"  "  When 
Old    New    York    Was    Young,"     *■''  Literary    New    York,"     Etc. 

Afterivord  by  JOSIAH    STRONG 

Draivings  by 

A.  C.  McHENCH  ^«i  JOHN  WESTERBERG 


THIRD  EDITION. 


NEW    rORK:    THE    AMERICAN 
INSTITUTE    OF    SOCIAL    SERVICE 


HOW    TO    USE   THIS    BOOK 

The  map  on  page  facing  title  shows  how  the  city 
of  New  York  has  been  divided  into  eleven  sections. 
Within  each  one  of  these  sectional  portions  of  the 
city,  that  which  is  described  has  been  classified,  so  that 
the  points  of  interest  can  be  most  conveniently  reached. 

Under  this  arrangement  the  journeyer  may  start  at 
the  Battery,  walk  over  the  city,  and  see  the  Better 
New  York  without  retracing  a  step,  and  therefore 
without  loss  of  time. 

Or,  one  not  desiring  to  go  over  the  entire  route 
may  take  up  the  journey  at  any  point,  simply  glancing 
at  the  map  to  see  what  section  one  is  in,  and  turning 
to  that  section  of  the  book. 

NOTE 

The  plan  of  this  book  often  makes  it  necessary  to  mention  one 
subject  in  half  a  dozen  Divisions.  It  is  advisable,  then,  when 
the  reader  is  interested  in  any  particular  subject,  that  the  General 
Index  be  consulted  for  complete  information. 


/  Copyright,  1904,  by 

"I    w'  The  American  Institute  of  Social  Service 

J(pj  r\  ^  Q.  New  York,  287  Fourth  Avenue 

'  J  Third  Edition 


DIVISIONS. 


DIVISION  I. 

Page 

From  the  Battery  to   Canal  Street    9 

DIVISION  11. 

Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  the  Bowery  39 

DIVISION  IIL 

Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  West  of  the  Bowery 67 

DIVISION  IV 

Fourteenth  to  Thirty-fourth  Street,  West  of  Fifth  Avenue    91 

DIVISION  V 

Fourteenth  to  Thirty-fourth  Street,   East  of  Fifth  Avenue  104 

DIVISION  VI. 

Thirty-fourth  to  Fifty-seventh  Street,  East  of  Fifth  Avenue  123 

DIVISION  VII. 

Thirty-fourth  to  Fifty-seventh  Street,  West  of  Fifth  Avenue  140 

DIVISION  VIII. 

Fifty-seventh   to    One   Hundred   and   Tenth    Street,   West 
of  Fifth  Avenue  (including  Central  Park)    154 

DIVISION  IX. 

Fifty-seventh   to    One    Hundred    and   Tenth    Street,    East 
of   Fifth  Avenue   172 

DIVISION  X. 

Above  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street  to  Kingsbridge...  190 

DIVISION  XL 

The  Bronx   203 

General   Index    217 

Addenda    231  and  232 


List  of  Illustrations. 


Page 
1-     Map     Frontispiece 

2.  Where  Finny  Wonders  May  Be   Seen 10 

3.  Where  the  Dutch  Used  to  Bowl  in  New  Amsterdam 

Days    12 

4.  A    Seaman's    Traveling    Library 15 

5.  A    Turning-Point    in    Boys'    Success 19 

6.  McAuley    Mission     20 

7.  How  the   Salvation  Army   Helps   People 21 

8.  One  of  Jack's   Snug  Harbors 24 

9.  Jack's    Floating    "Gospel    Shop" 26 

10.  New    York's    Chinese    Theater 27 

11.  A    Roof    Playground    of    the    Five    Points    House    of 

Industry    29 

12.  The  Service  of  Work  at  the  House  of  Industry 30 

13.  Where    Childish    Voices    Sing 31 

14.  A     Life-Saving    Station 32 

15.  A   Bit  of  the   New  Five   Points 33 

16.  A   Line  of   Samples   from   the   Diet   Kitchen 34 

17.  St.    John's    Lane 35 

18.  Arms   of   the   Janitors'    Association 38 

19.  The    Education    of   a    Breakfast   for    Foodless    Italian 
Children     40 

20.  A    Bowery    Social    Center 45 

21.  Alfred    Corning    Clark    Memorial    House 51 

2?.     Christodora     55 

23.  At     the     Wilson     Industrial 56 

24.  Cooper    Union    59 

25.  Pleasure  and  Profit  for  the  People  in  Cooper  Union.  60 

26.  The  Houses  of  Anna,   Simeon  and  the  Holy  Child..  65 

27.  How    Grace    Church    Does    It 68 

28.  A    Good    Bed    for   20    Cents    and    a    Square    Meal   for 

15    Cents    71 

29.  Helping    Men   to    Help   Themselves   at   the    Christian 

Alliance     72 

30.  Payment  in  Kind  at  the  Industrial  Christian  Alliance.  73 

31.  Jackson    Square     Library 76 

32.  The   Needle,   the   Sewing-machine  and  the   Paste-pot.  77 

33.  The    Extension    of    Useful    Knowledge 78 

34.  A    Portal   of   Practical    Uplift;   the   Salvation   Army..  79 

35.  Where    the    Watchman    Announced    Fires    in    Green- 

wich   Village 80 

36.  The    Church    of    the    Ascension 82 

37.  Where   Grace   Church   Looks  Out  on   Broadway 84 

38.  Some   of    Grace    Church    Social    Centers 85 

39.  Church    of    the    Holy    Communion 92 

40.  Church    of    the    Holy    Communion 93 

41.  Church    of   the    Holy   Communion 94 

42.  In  the   Center   of   Chelsea   Village 95 

43.  Salvage   for    Men    and    Waste 96 


List  of  Illustrations. 

Page 

44.  Where  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Helps  Body,  Mind  and  Soul.     98 

45.  Applied    Design 99 

46.  An    Isle    of    Safety 100 

47.  How  the   Children's  Aid  Society  Brings  the  Cripples 

to    Its    Schools 105 

48.  St.     George's    Parish    House 107 

49.  A    Cozy     Corner    in    the     Madison     Square     Church 

House     113 

50.  The    Lich    Gate    of    the    Little    Church    Around    the 

Corner    114 

51.  American      Institute     of     Social      Service — A      Social 

Laboratory     119 

52.  Classified   Experiences   in  Social  Betterment 120 

53.  Where   the   Social    Doctor    Receives    His    Patients   at 

the    American    Institute    of    Social    Service 121 

54.  Social     Laboratory,     American     Institute     of     Social 

Service    122 

55.  Technical  Training  at  the  Y.    M.    C.   A 126 

56.  Brick    Presbyterian    Church 128 

57.  On    Board    the    Floating    Hospital 129 

58.  Where  Some   New   York    Children   Play   on  the   Roof 

of    St.    Bartholomew's    Mission    House 133 

59.  Possibilities   of  Americanization   for   the    Chinaman..  134 

60.  Church   of   the    Covenant v 135 

61.  St.    Thomas's    Vested    Choir 136 

62.  St.    Thomas's    Chapel    on   the    East   Side 137 

63.  Mrs.    A.    H.    Gibbons 139 

64.  The    Babcock    Memorial 141 

65-     Where   Good   Americans   are   Made 148 

36.    At   the    Home    for    the    Friendless 151 

67.  Grant's    Monument   from    Across    the    Park 154 

68.  Bits   of   Nature   in   a    Nearbv   Park 155 

69.  Roosevelt    Hospital    162 

70.  Where   Marvels   of   Natural    History   are   Housed 169 

71.  The   Church   at   Work:    St.    Thomas's   House 172 

72.  Practical    Uplift    for    Cripples 173 

73.  At    the    Orthopaedic 174 

74.  At   Close   of   Dav   in   the    Orthopaedic 175 

75.  The    New    Education 176 

76.  The    Education    of    Hand    and    Brain 182 

77.  The   Real   Thing   in   Practise 183 

78.  An   Application    Station    in    Hand    Training 184 

79.  First    Carnegie    Library 185 

80.  Reading-room    Young    Men's    Hebrew    Association..  188 

81.  Education    for    Eye    and    Ear 189 

82.  The   Unconscious   Influence   of  Art:   Wadleigh    High 

School    192 

83.  A    New    Use    for    a    City    Pier:    Recreation    Above, 

Freight    Below    197 

84.  A   Home   for  the   Deaf  and   Dumb 200 

85.  Individual    Care    for    Dependent    Children 201 

86.  A    New    Use    for   a    Car 211 

87.  The   Final   Evolution    of   the   Car 212 

88.  Where   the   Friendless    Children   are    Cared    For 213 

89.  Not   Altogether    Friendless 214 

90.  The    Canon    of   a    City    Street 215 


SIGHTS     AND     INSIGHTS     IN 
BETTER    NEW    YORK 


DIVISION  I. 

From  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street, 

When  New  Amsterdam  was  captured  by  the 
British  from  the  Dutch  in  the  year  1664,  and  its 
name  changed  to  New  York,  there  stood  close  by 
where  Battery  Park  is  now,  a  fort,  which  was  the 
chief  defense  of  the  city.  The  British  realized 
from  the  weak  resistance  the  Dutch  had  made 
what  a  useless  fort  this  was,  so  they  very  soon  set 
about  building  a  battery  near  the  water's  edge  that 
should  be  more  effective  in  time  of  war.  Around 
this  battery  there  was  a  small  open  space  which  in 
after  years,  when  the  battery  had  been  demolished, 
continued  to  be  called  The  Battery.  For  close 
upon  250  years,  now,  that  little  space  has  been 
getting  larger  and  larger,  by  the  process  of  filling 
in  land  along  the  water's  side,  until  the  result  is 
the  Battery  Park  of  today. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  a 
tiny  island  in  the  bay,  just  ofif  Battery  Park,  was 
fortified,  when  there  were  rumors  of  war,  and  be- 
came Fort  Clinton.  In  the  course  of  time,  when 
it  had  come  to  be  the  year  1822,  Governor's  Island 
became  the  military  headquarters,  and  Fort  Clin- 


The  Subway 


(5>  Expre 


From  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street 

ton  ceased  to  be  a  fort  and  became  Castle  Garden, 
a  place  of  amusement.  It  was  the  scene,  in  1824, 
of  the  reception  of  General  Lafayette,  and  in  1851 
its  name  was  heard  around  the  world,  when  Louis 
Kossuth  was  received  there  and  welcomed  to 
America.  The  glories  of  the  place  faded  in  an- 
other five  years,  when  it  entered  on  a  new  life  as 
a  depot  for  the  reception  of  immigrants.  For  this 
purpose  it  was  used  until  1891. 

Old  Castle  Garden,  reconstructed  internally 
beyond  all  knowing,  but  still  retaining  its  familiar 
appearance  of  circular  solidity,  entered  on  a  new 
stage  in  its  history  in  1896,  when  it  became  the 
home  of  the  New  York  Aquarium.  It  was  befit- 
ting that  the  historic  old  building  should  thus 
house  the  largest  public  aquarium  in  the  world,  an 
aquarium  that  contains  not  only  the  largest  single 
collection  of  living  fish,  but  also  the  finest  collec- 
tion of  tropical  fish.  Occupying  the  floor  space 
are  seven  great  pools,  the  largest  of  which  is  thir- 
ty-eight feet  in  length.    Extending  around  the  walls 


Where  Finny  Wonders  May  Be  Seen. 


The  Better  New  York 

on  the  ground  floor,  as  well  as  in  the  circular  gal- 
lery, are  a  hundred  or  more  wall  tanks,  where  tish, 
from  the  ordinary  and  familiar  to  the  most  rare 
and  remarkable,  are  shown  as  though  they  were 
animated  illuminated  paintings.  The  Aquarium 
is  the  resort  for  the  deep  student  of  sea-lore  and 
a  revelation  to  those  who  would  learn  the  remark- 
able shapes  hidden  in  the  depths  of  the  sea. 

Beyond  the  Aquarium  in  the  park  is  a  life-size 
bronze  statue  of  the  Swedish-American  engineer, 
John  Ericsson,  who,  in  1833,  applied  the  screw 
to  steam  navigation,  and  in  1862  invented  the 
Monitor.  He  was  many  years  a  citizen  of  New 
York. 

The  park  has  long  been  an  engaging  place  for 
children,  and  in  1903  a  special  playground  was  set 
aside  for  them  on  a  plot  of  ground  under  the 
structure  of  the  elevated  road  where  it  crosses 
the  park.  This  playground  is  fitted  out  with 
swings,  ladders  and  every  device  for  amusement. 

Few  of  the  crowds  hurrying  across  Battery  Park 
know  the  meaning  of  the  lunch  wagon  standing 
there  day  after  day,  where  one  can  get  a  meal 
for  ten  cents.  The  Church  Temperance  Society, 
striving  for  the  promotion  of  temperance,  has 
among  other  aids  a  Woman's  Auxiliary.  It 
is  this  branch  of  the  society  that  maintains  the 
lunch  wagon  in  the  park,  as  well  as  seven  others 
at  different  points  throughout  the  city,  seeking 
to  do  their  part  toward  counteracting  the  evil  in- 
fluence of  the  saloon.  In  the  course  of  a  year 
something  like  350,000  ten-cent  meals  arc  served 
from  these  wagons.  The  profit  that  comes  is  at 
once  put  out  again  by  the  society  in  the  shape  of 
free  ice-water  fountains  in  some  twenty  different 
quarters  of  the  town,  and  in  a  coffee-wagon,  from 
which  in  winter  the  city's  fire-fighters  are  strength- 
ened while  at  their  work. 


10 


From  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street 

On  State  Street,  facing  Battery  Park,  is  a  row 
of  houses  whose  ornate  doorways  and  time-stained 
outer  walls  proclaim  them  of  a  period  long  gone. 
Though  not  at  all  in  keeping  with  the  architecture 
of  a  modern  city,  these  houses  are  picturesque  in 
their  oddity.  They  are  survivals  of  a  half  century 
or  more  ago,  of  the  days  when  wealthy  residents 
had  their  homes  here  close  by  the  waterside.  The 
first  of  this  row,  numbered  i  State  Street,  is  occu- 
pied by  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  Missionary  Society,  and  is  called 
the  Battery  Station.  Here  seamen  find  not  only 
a  hearty  welcome,  but  assistance,  whether  they 
want  recreation,  advice  or  employment.  Here, 
too,  they  may  leave  their  savings  to  be  cared  for, 
or  to  be  sent  to  relatives  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
There  is  here,  too,  a  seaman's  branch  of  the 
Legal  Aid  Society,  where  the  more  serious  mat- 
ters of  men  of  the  sea  are  looked  after. 


Where  the  Dutch  Used  to  Bowl  in  New  Amsterdam   Days. 


II 


The  Better  New  York 

Another  house  in  this  row,  Xo.  6,  the  Leo 
House,  receives  German  CathoHc  immigrants,  and, 
for  a  small  fee,  cares  for  them  until  they  can 
secure  a  position. 

Further  along  in  this  same  row  a  house  to  be 
noted  by  the  passer-by  is  Xo.  17.  now  the  home  of 
the  Mission  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Rosarj*.  Immi- 
grant Irish  girls  coming  to  America  are  met  when 
they  land  at  Ellis  Island,  and  if  there  is  no  other 
friend  to  care  for  them,  they  are  taken  to  the  solid 
appearing  old  house  on  State  Street  and  kept  until 
relatives  can  be  communicated  with  or  until  a  posi- 
tion can  be  secured  for  them.  Their  sta}'  is  usually 
short,  as  it  has  come  to  be  a  place  where  those  in 
want  of  hired  help  daily  apply  in  such  numbers 
that  even  the  friendless  girls  in  a  new  world  are 
not  long  out  of  a  position  or  a  home. 

At  Xo.  9  in  this  same  State  Street  is  the  Im- 
migrant Girl's  Home,  where  the  Woman's  Home 
Missionary-  Society-  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  extends  a  temporary-  shelter  to  women 
lately  arrived  in  this  countr^^  Seven  or  eight 
hundred  are  cared  for  during  the  year.  This 
home  diflFers  from  others  of  similar  intent,  because 
interest  is  taken  in  the  future  of  the  women,  to 
whom  it  is  ready  at  all  times  to  offer  advice  or 
protection  in  case  of  misfortune  or  ill  health. 

At  12  State  Street  is  the  Lutheran  Emigrant 
House  Association,  where  immigrants  of  all 
nationalities  mav  find  board  at  nominal  rates. 


12 


From  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street 

During  the  course  of  a  year  more  than  200.000 
Italian  immigrants  are  landed  at  Ellis  Island. 
Most  of  them  are  wholly  unfamiliar  with  the  lan- 
guage and  customs  of  the  country.  An  eiTort  to 
start  them  in  the  new  world  under  proper  condi- 
tions is  made  by  the  Society  for  the  Protection  of 
Italian  Immigrants,  with  headquarters  convenient 
to  the  water  front,  at  17  Pearl  Street.  It  puts  the 
newly-arrived  in  communication  with  any  friends  or 
relations  they  may  have,  secures  employment  for 
some,  and  acts  generally  as  a  buffer  between  them 
and  what   might   otherwise   be   a   merciless   world. 

Away  back  in  1769,  when  George  III.  reigned 
and  when  Sir  Henry  j^loore  governed  the  Province 
of  New  York,  the  ^Marine  Society  of  New  York 
was  formed.  It  exists  still,  and  has  a  home  at 
19  Whitehall  Street.  In  those  early  days  the  mas- 
ters of  vessels  gathered  together  to  discuss  mari- 
time matters,  and  by  discussion  and  investigation 
acquired  knowledge.  There  were  vessel  masters 
who  felt  that  a  day  of  distress  might  some  time 
come  to  them,  there  were  seamen  to  whom  days 
of  distress  had  already  arrived,  and  there  were 
widows  and  orphans  of  the  sea  who  needed  assist- 
ance. So  the  ]\Iarine  Society  gathered  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  sea,  aided  members  in  distress  and 
cared  for  widows  and  orphans,  and  is  doing  the 
same  good  work  today. 

Where  Broadway  begins  is  the  Bowling  Green, 
a  tiny  patch  of  ground  that  in  early  days  was  an 
open  space  in  front  of  the  fort.  It  became  a  bowl- 
ing green  in  1733,  and  has  been  the  scene  of  stir- 
ring events  connected  with  the  city's  history.  The 
railing  which  surrounds  it  has  stood  there  since 
1771,  when  it  was  brought  from  England  to  in- 
close an  equestrian  statue  of  George  III.  Al- 
though the  statue  was  demolished  in  the  days  of 
the  Revolution,  the  railing  still  stands,  having 
fared  no  worse  than  to  have  knocked  from  its 
pickets  the  counterfeit  presentments  of  the  heads 
of  the  royal  family  of  England  that  once  sur- 
mounted them. 

All  this  .srround  around  the  Bowling  Green  is 
historic.     The   towering   building   opposite    to   the 

13 


The  Better  New  York 

west  stands  where  the  first  public  inn  of  New  Am- 
sterdam stood;  stands,  too,  where,  after  the  inn 
was  gone,  was  the  house  that  Benedict  Arnold  used 
as  his  headquarters  when  he  turned  traitor  to  his 
country  and  sought  safety  within  the  British  lines. 
In  this  modern  building  is  the  home  of  the  Fed- 
eration of  Churches,  a  Christian  organization 
which  looks  to  the  bettering  of  family  life.  In 
making  a  close  study  of  social  and  religious  con- 
ditions, the  city  is  divided  into  many  districts.  In 
each  district  a  study  is  made  of  family  life,  from 
a  physical,  spiritual^  educational,  economic  and 
social  standpoint.  All  this  information  is  tabu- 
lated, and  is  then  furnished  to  the  churches  in 
these  districts,  so  that  a  church  may  be  in  pos- 
session of  detailed  information  concerning  each 
family  in  the  parish.  In  this  way  each  individual 
in  a  family  is  offered  the  opportunity  of  attaching 
himself  to  some  church,  not  necessarily  the  church 
of  the  district,  but  to  the  church  of  his  choice.  The 
church  to  which  this  information  is  given  is  also 
instructed  how  the  material  may  be  used  to  the 
greatest  advantage. 

Close  by  where  the  building  numbered  45 
Broadway  stands  now  there  were  set  up,  in  1613, 
three  or  four  huts.  They  were  the  first  habitation 
of  the  white  man  on  the  Island  of  Manhattan.  In 
this  building  that  stands  on  the  site  is  the  main 
office  of  the  De  Hirsch  Fund,  which  was  estab- 
lished in  1899  by  Baron  de  Hirsch,  with  a  view 
to  aiding  Russian-Roumanian  immigrants  to  be- 
come well-ordered  and  useful  citizens  of  America, 
and,  furthermore,  to  prevent  their  congregating  in 
large  cities.  To  carry  out  these  views,  immigrants 
are  taught  the  English  language  and  easily  acquired 
trades,  and,  as  opportunities  afford,  are  furnished 
with  transportation  to  places  where  their  services 
are  in  demand.  The  fund,  however,  gives  no  alms. 
There  are  classes,  too,  maintained  by  the  fund, 
where  both  day  and  night  sessions  are  held  for  the 
proper  training  of  adults  as  well  as  children. 

In  Wall  Street,  at  'j^,  is  the  American  Sea- 
men's Friend  Society.  Since  1828  this  organiza- 
tion has  striven  to  improve  the  social  and  moral 

14 


From  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street 


condition  of  men  of  the  sea.  Its  works  on  prac- 
tical lines,  for  it  finds  for  the  American  seaman, 
when  he  is  in  port,  a  proper  boarding  house,  en- 
courages him  in  thrift,  furnishes  library  facilities 
and  reading-rooms.  The  seaman  does  not  seek 
the  society;  he  is  sought.  At  thirty-six  seaports  in 
various  cities  of  the  world  it  has  missionaries  and 
homes.  Shipwrecked  men  are  clothed  and  cared 
for,  and  the  destitute  and  ailing  ones  returned  to 
their  homes.  A  characteristic  feature  of  the  work 
is  loan  libraries,  which  are  neat  cases,  thirteen 
by  twenty-six  inches,  in  which  are  put  about  half  a 
hundred  selected  books  of  biography,  of  travel  and 
adventure,  of  popular  science,  of  history,  of  story 
and  of  religion,  and  which  are  furnished  to  sea- 
going vessels.  During  the  forty  odd  years  this 
society  has  been  carrying  on  this  branch  of  its  work, 
more  than  ii,ooo  libraries  have  been  sent  out,  con- 
taining close  upon  600,000  volumes.  These  are 
the  new  libraries,  and  as  they  have  been  shipped 
and  reshipped,  it  is  estimated  that  the  volumes 
have  been  accessible  to  more  than  995,000  seamen. 

Going  from  Wall  Street  towards  the  waterside 
again   is   a   reading   of  history.     Passing   through 


A  Seaman's 

Traveling 

Library, 


The  Better  New  York 

ancient  Pearl  Street,  the  journeyer  comes  to  Han- 
over Square,  that  was  once  the  "Newspaper  Row" 
of  the  town,  when  William  Bradford  published  the 
first  newspaper.  Close  by,  at  88,  in  the  same 
street,  is  the  now  neglected  marble  tablet  that  com- 
memorates the  great  fire  of  1835,  when  402  build- 
ings were  destroyed.  Across  the  street,  at  81,  a 
tablet  shows  where  Bradford  set  up  the  first  print- 
ing press  in  the  colony.  At  the  nearest  corner, 
on  the  house  numbered  y^i,  is  a  bronze  tablet  to 
tell  that  there,  in  1642,  was  erected  the  first  city 
hall  of  New  Amsterdam. 

Jeannette  Park,  at  Coenties  Slip  and  the  East 
River,  came  into  existence  in  1886.  Some  years 
before  that  the  old  water  slip,  which  had  lost  its 
usefulness,  was  filled  in  with  rubbish,  and  the 
ground  so  made  became  a  hucksters'  market.  This 
came  to  be  considered  an  unsightly  nuisance,  so 
the  park  was  decided  on.  A  landscape  artist  de- 
veloped the  plans,  and  rich  soil  was  brought  from 
Brooklyn  to  cover  the  rubbish  ground.  The  park 
was  named  after  a  daughter  of  the  elder  James 
Gordon  Bennett. 

Close  to  Jeannette  Park,  at  21  Coenties  Slip,  is 
a  pleasant  reading-room,  where  gather  men  of  the 
coastwise  and  trans-oceanic  trade.  It  is  another 
of  the  stations  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
Missionary  Society.  During  the  summer  months  a 
tent  of  the  station  is  set  up  on  a  nearby  wharf, 
where  seamen  gather  to  hear  reading  aloud. 

From  the  waterside  to  City  Hall  Park  is  only  a 
few  minutes'  walk.  It  is  an  interesting  walk,  too, 
if  you  go  by  way  of  Fletcher  Street,  a  thorough- 
fare only  two  blocks  long,  but  every  foot  of  which 
is  well  worth  studying.  The  houses  there  are 
curious  in  outward  appearance,  and  within  they 
are  dingy  and  full  of  strange  nooks  and  picturesque 
stairways  that  suggest  readily  enough  that  time,  in 
1694,  when  the  governor  after  whom  the  street  is 
named  had  his  name  linked  with  the  pirate  Tew. 

Surrounding  City  Hall  is  the  last  remnant  of  an 
historic  plot  of  ground.  Its  history  began  in 
Dutch  colonial  days,  when  it  was  a  clearing  in  the 

16 


From  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street 

forest  beyond  the  town  of  New  Amsterdam,  where 
cattle  were  rounded  up  in  autumn  days.  It  came, 
in  the  days  of  the  Revolution,  to  be  a  gathering 
place  for  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  and  a  liberty  pole 
was  erected  to  commemorate  the  repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act.  In  1812,  when  City  Hall  was  erected, 
the  park  took  its  name  from  that  building. 

The  law's  delay  is  dealt  with  in  a  practical  way 
by  the  Legal  Aid  Society,  where  help  is  given  to 
those  who  are  too  poor  to  engage  the  services  of 
a  lawyer.  The  conviction  that  legal  justice  should 
be  within  the  reach  of  all  men  and  women,  no 
matter  how  poor  and  ignorant,  is  the  fundamental 
idea  of  the  society.  It  grew  originally  out  of  the 
knowledge  of  individual  cases  of  wrong,  of  which 
immigrants  unacquainted  with  the  language  and 
customs  of  the  country  were  the  victims.  The 
home  of  the  society  is  opposite  the  Park,  239 
Broadway,  and  there  are  three  branches  in  various 
parts  of  the  city,  through  which  pass  each  month 
from  five  hundred  to  six  hundred  cases,  embracing 
all  nationalities.  The  large  expenses  are  defrayed 
by  annual  dues  and  contributions;  but  in  order  that 
the  relation  between  the  society  and  the  applicant 
for  help  may  be  on  a  business  and  not  a  charitable 
basis,  a  retainer  fee  of  ten  cents  is  charged  in  each 
case  taken  up,  and  ten  per  cent  of  the  money  re- 
covered, if  that  amount  be  over  five  dollars. 

Before  the  door  of  the  Tribune  Building  close 
by  is  a  colossal  bronze  statue  of  Horace  Greeley, 
the  founder  of  the  paper.  This  statue  was  exe- 
cuted by  J.  Q.  A.  Ward,  and  unveiled  in  1890. 
The  cost  of  it  was  defrayed  by  subscription. 

In  this  building  is  the  headquarters  of  the 
Tribune  Fresh  Air  Fund,  which,  for  over  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  has  been  working  on  a  special  idea 
for  doing  good,  and  which  has  been  developed  so 
successfully  each  year  that  it  has  grown  to  enor- 
'mous  proportions.  The  whole  idea  is  a  co-opera- 
tive one  for  giving  the  poor  and  sick  children  of 
the  city  two  weeks'  country  outings,  cared  for  and 
fed,  not  in  one  large  house,  but  as  guests  in  indi- 
vidual families   of  a  country  neighborhood.     One 

17 


The  Better  New  York 

of  the  strong  points  in  the  management  is  the  small 
outlay  for  great  results,  and  co-operation  is  the 
explanation.  The  idea  was  conceived  in  1876  by 
Rev.  Willard  Parsons,  of  Sherman,  Pa.,  who  the 
next  year  provided  for  a  two-weeks'  country  vaca- 
tion for  some  sixty  city  boys  and  girls  among  the 
families  in  his  immediate  neighborhood.  So  great 
was  the  appreciation  with  which  this  was  received 
that,  in  1878,  Mr.  Parsons  gave  up  his  charge  to 
devote  his  entire  attention  to  developing  larger 
plans.  From  1878  to  1882  the  work  was  carried 
on  through  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  but  since 
then  has  been  under  the  auspices  of  the  New  York 
Tribune.  About  10,000  children  yearly  are  sent  to 
the  country  for  a  fortnight  each  at  the  small  cost 
per  capita  of  $2.77;  besides  this,  some  28,000  other 
beneficiaries  get  comfort  and  recreation  through 
days'  outing,  the  expense  of  which  is  borne  by 
private  gifts,  and  does  not  come  from  the  fund, 
though  under  the  same  management.  From  1877 
to  1902,  inclusive,  202,478  children  had  the  advan- 
tage of  vacations  provided  in  this  way,  at  a  total 
cost  of  $510,769.  Much  service  is  afforded 
through  co-operation  of  the  presidents,  trainmen 
and  porters  of  the  great  railways  over  which  the 
children  travel,  and  hosts  and  hostesses  welcome 
their  little  guests  in  half  a  dozen  different  States 
of  the  Union. 

Andrew  H.  Greene,  who  had  been  called  the 
Father  of  Greater  New  York,  was  the  founder 
of  the  American  Scenic  and  Historic  Preservation 
Society,  which  has  its  office  in  the  Tribune  Build- 
ing. This  is  a  national  organization  to  protect  the 
natural  beauty  of  the  landscape  of  the  United 
States  from  disfigurement,  and  preserve  all  things 
about  which  hover  historic  memories. 

Close  by.  in  the  Times  Building,  are  the  quar- 
ters of  the  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice, 
which  works  in  the  defense  of  public  morals,  and 
devotes  its  efforts  mainly  to  suppressing  the  cir- 
culation of  obscene  publications.  How  well  it  suc- 
ceeds is  shown  by  the  fact  that  since  its  organiza- 
tion, in   1878,   more  than  eighty  tons   of  such  un- 

18 


From  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street 

lawful    matter    have    been    destroyed    through    the 
society's   efforts. 

If,  in  walking  along  Newspaper  Row,  and  see- 
ing the  ragged  boys  selling  dailies  with  so  much 
energy,  the  thought  comes  that  there  is  among 
them  many  a  homeless  child  uncared  for,  walk  on 
a  block.  Turn  the  corner  of  Duane  Street,  and  in 
a  few  steps  you  will  come  to  a  square,  solid-ap- 
pearing building  rising  six  stories  above  the  street. 
The  sign  that  extends  across  the  front,  ''News- 
boys' Lodging  House,"  does  not  mean  much  to  the 
average  passer-by,  because  he  has  not  the  interest 
to  investigate  its  significance.  If  he  were  told  that 
this  is  one  of  the  six  lodging  houses  of  the  Chil- 
dren's Aid  Society,  even  that  might  mean  little  to 
him.  In  the  busy,  thoughtless  city  so  much  that 
is  good  escapes  notice.  He  might  never  have 
heard,  or  he  might  have  forgotten,  that  this  society 
was  organized  in  1853  by  Charles  Loring  Brace, 
and  that  it  has  been  growing  larger  and  larger 
with  the  passing  years.  Having  for  its  motive  the 
teaching  of  children  how  to  help  themselves,  it  now 
maintains   nineteen   industrial   schools   and  kinder- 


A   Turning 

Point   in 

Boys'   Success.  ''^^^ 


#5^ttlQMSHIZ. 


The  Better  New  York 

gartens  m  those  populous  districts  of  the  city 
where  poverty  most  prevails,  besides  vacation 
schools,  evening  classes,  lodging  houses,  and  the 
like.  This  particular  lodging  house  was  founded 
in  1874,  and  something  over  twelve  hundred  boys 
are  cared  for  every  year.  They  are  fed,  given 
the  benefits  of  a  school,  of  a  gymnasium,  of  a 
library,  and  of  entertainments  in  the  evenings. 
Not  only  are  these  boys  benefited  for  a  day,  but 
their  whole  lives  are  shaped  for  them.  Some  are 
sent  to  the  society's  farm  school;  those  who  desire 
are  enlisted  in  the  navy;  for  others  homes  are 
secured,  and  for  others  employment.  So  the 
Newsboys'  Lodging  House  is  not  merely  a  place  to 
sleep,  it  is  a  turning-point  on  the  road  to  success. 

Set  low  in  the  slum  district,  between  Cherry  Hill 
and  the  waterside,  the  McAuley  Water  Street  Mis- 
sion, at  316  Water  Street,  has  for  more  than  thirty 
years  now  been  rendering  help  for  the  body  and 
for  the  spirit  to  those  whom  many  would  have 
considered  beyond  reclamation — to  criminals  and 
to  drunkards,  women  as  well  as  men;  for  it  is  the 
special  object  of  this  mission  to  give  help  to  those 
who  are  utterly  unable  to  help  themselves,  to  build 


*  -         vu 


fW''!^iii'!i;i.^- 


Salvation  Army  Helps  People  in  the  Way  They  Need 

up  those  who  would  never  be  able  to  rise  at  all 
unless  some  friendly  hand  were  stretched  out. 
Those  who  would  otherwise  wander  homeless 
through  the  streets  it  lodges;  those  who  are  hungry 
and  absolutely  helpless  it  feeds  and  gives  cause 
for  hope.  In  many  cases  it  aids  in  a  practical  way, 
with  gifts  of  shoes  and  clothing.  In  one  year 
alone  more  than  thirty  thousand  men  have  been 
lodged  there,  and  more  than  forty  thousand  meals 
served.  The  mission  was  founded  by  Jerry  Mc- 
Auley,  in  1872,  for  the  most  degraded  and  prof- 
ligate drunkards  and  criminals.  Having  once  be- 
longed to  that  class  himself,  and  having  been 
transformed  so  that  he  became  one  of  the  most 
useful,  most  respected,  and  best  beloved  men  in 
the  city,  he  never  despaired  of  the  lowest;  and  by 
his  efforts  many  abandoned  men  were  reclaimed. 
Two  blocks  farther  along,  at  Cherry  and  Oliver 
Streets,  in  the  midst  of  this  populous  district, 
where  poverty  and  wretchedness,  vice  and  crime 
make  outward  show  in  ragged  children,  care- 
worn women  and  besotted  men,  is  a  Slum  Post 
of  the  Salvation  Army.  The  bright  windows  of 
the  post  decorated  with  potted  plants,  its  large- 
lettered  invitations  to  enter,  its  general  atmosphere 
of  friendly  encouragement,  are  in  strong  contrast 
to  the  rest  of  the  neighborhood.  Such  posts  as  this 
have  been  established  in  the  worst  social  centers  of 
New  York,  and  the  workers,  who  also  live  at  the 
posts,  are  Army  officers,  known  as  Slum  Sisters. 


21 


The  Better  New  York 

They  live  in  these  slums,  visit  the  sick  and  needy, 
and  minister  to  the  temporal  and  spiritual  wants 
of  the  most  degraded  types  of  humanity,  thus 
reaching  the  lowest  economic  stratum  in  ways  of 
immediate  and  practical  helpfulness. 

An  interesting  kind  of  Christian  work  is  carried 
on  among  the  Italian  immigrants  by  the  First 
Italian  Baptist  Church,  at  Mariners'  Temple, 
I  Henry  Street.  While  looking  to  the  moral  and 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  youth  and  aged  of  a 
crowded  district,  special  attention  is  given  to  the 
women.  Mothers'  meetings  are  held;  then  these 
mothers  are  also  visited  in  their  homes  by  a  kindly 
worker,  who  does  all  in  her  power  to  cheer  and 
teach  them  something  of  the  principles  which 
underlie  the  making  of  a  happy  American  home. 
There  is  a  Little  Mothers'  Club,  also,  where  hun- 
dreds of  children  meet,  who  ordinarily  have  the 
care  of  their  baby  brothers  and  sisters.  They  are 
amused  with  games  and  taught  something  of  the 
Bible. 

In  nearby  Oliver  Street,  at  21,  under  the 
charge  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  there 
is  a  place  where  destitute  girls  tind  a  home  and  are 
trained  mentally  and  industrially  until  such  time 
as  they  are  able  to  go  out  into  the  world  and  sup- 
port themselves. 

There  is  a  low,  square,  solid  building  at  Madi- 
son and  Catharine  Streets  that  has  stood  there 
since  1854,  a  veritable  lighthouse  for  seamen.  It 
is  Mariners'  Church,  maintained  by  the  New  York 
Port  Society,  and  is  one  of  the  efforts  of  that 
society  in  its  work  of  promoting  the  Gospel  among 
the  seamen  who  come  to  the  city.  In  this  same 
structure  there  is  a  reading-room  where,  besides 
books  and  periodicals,  facility  is  given  to  seamen 
for  corresponding  with  family  and  friends. 

Two  pretty  brick  houses  stand  in  Henry  Street, 
close  by  Market,  spick  and  span  in  appearance, 
in  a  locality  teeming  with  tenement  life.  They  are 
the  home  of  the  Jacob  A.  Riis  Neighborhood  Set- 
tlement, which  takes  its  name  from  that  ener- 
getic  social  worker  who   has  told  us  so  much  of 

22 


From  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street 

'The  Other  Half."  Nobody  planned  the  work 
of  this  settlement;  it  grew  and  developed  accord- 
ing to  needs,  and  its  home  has  grown  by  almost 
imperceptible  stages  to  be  the  one  bright  spot  in  a 
neighborhood  that  ordinarily  would  not  be  consid- 
ered at  all  bright.  It  has  come  to  be  a  real  home 
for  fourteen  hundred  persons,  from  childhood  to 
old  age,  for  a  certain  number  of  hours  each  week. 
The  work  of  the  social  settlement  as  carried  on, 
and  the  equipment,  are  considered  to  be  above  the 
average.  A  characteristic  feature  of  the  work  is 
the  Fresh  Air  Home,  which  is  a  large  house  on 
Twin  Island,  to  which  whole  families  are  taken 
together  from  the  tenement  district  to  enjoy  for  a 
time  the  pleasures  of  country  life.  The  house  is 
furnished,  and  every  detail  carried  out  to  make  it 
an  ideal  fresh-air  home. 

Half  a  hundred  steps  beyond,  at  the  next  corner, 
is  a  church  building,  a  solid  structure  of  stone — a 
restful  place^  for  there  are  trees  beside  it,  aged  and 
sickly  trees  indeed,  but  the  only  spot  of  living  green 
to  be  seen  anywhere  about  here,  where  the  houses 
are  piled  so  thickly  upon  one  another,  and  so 
densely  populated.  In  this  place  asphalted  courts 
have  taken  the  place  of  garden  plots,  and  trees 
have  been  swept  away  as  space-taking  ornaments. 

This  Church  of  Sea  and  Land  is  a  building  for 
a  quiet  country  village,  not  for  a  densely  crowded 
quarter  of  a  great  city.  Indeed,  it  was  in  reality  a 
country  church  in  the  year  1817,  when  it  was  built 
by  Colonel  Henry  Rutgers  on  his  farm,  which  then 
spread  all  about  the  region. 

Close  by  where  the  church  stands,  Nathan  Hale, 
the  martyr  spy  of  the  Revolution,  was  hanged 
in  Rutgers'  orchard.  For  almost  a  century  the 
church  has  stood  here,  its  congregation  varying 
with  the  changing  character  of  the  neighborhood. 
It  now  ranks  with  the  institutional  churches,  hav- 
ing a  parish  house,  where,  by  means  of  clubs  and 
classes,    industrial   and   social   work   is   carried   on. 

Another  place  where  sailors  congregate  when  in 
port,  where  they  find  a  housing  place  and  a  read- 
ing-room, and  where  they  find  those  to  assist  them 
in   securing   employment   on   outgoing   ships,   is   a 

23 


Jack's  Floating  "Gospel  Shop." 

that  is  a  home  for  those  men  of  the  sea  to  whom 
home  is  so  shifting  and  unstable.  Close  by,  in 
Pike  Street,  at  34,  is  the  Mission  House  of  the 
Society,  one  of  the  branches  where  the  work  is 
carried  on. 

Where  Rutgers  Street  touches  East  River  is  one 
of  the  smaller  city  parks.  This  spot  of  green  is 
indeed  one  of  the  lungs  of  the  great  East  Side.  It 
looks  as  though  it  were  dug  out  of  the  midst  of 
houses,  so  high  and  thick  are  they  piled  up  about  it 
on  either  side.  Consisting  of  less  than  an  acre  of 
improved  ground,  it  is  the  one  vision  of  green  to 
b£  seen  for  blocks  around. 

At  22  East  Broadway  is  the  marble  building  that 
houses  the  Chatham  Square  Branch  of  the  New 
York  Public  Library.  It  is  not  only  spacious  and 
open  to  the  light  and  air,  but  is  pleasing  to  the  eye, 
standing  here  in  a  district  filled  to  overflowing  with 
the  small,  close,  dreary-appearing  shops  of  mer- 
chants. This  branch  is  almost  entirely  turned  over 
to  the  use  of  children. 

Where  East  Broadway  begins,  the  square,  white 
building  towering  ten  stories  above  Chatham 
Square  is  the  Salvation  Army  Hotel.  It  is  main- 
tained more  especially  for  clerks  whose  very  small 
salaries  do  not  permit  of  their  going  to  a  first-class 
hotel,  and  who  still  do  not  wish  to  go  to  a  lodging 
house.     The  hotel  is  modern  in  all  particulars,  the 

26 


From  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street 

rooms  are  neat,  light  and  airy,  and  a  strong  effort 
is  made  to  surround  them  with  a  homelike  atmos- 
phere. It  is  quite  a  contrast  to  the  lodging  house 
of  the  Army  around  the  corner,  at  21  Bowery,  and 
shows  the  marked  contrast  between  the  modern 
lodging  house  and  the  lodging  house  of  a  few  years 
ago.  These  Bowery  houses  are  the  conventional 
lodging  place  that  so  many  homeless  men  have 
become  accustomed  to,  and  who  really  prefer 
them  to  the  modern  hotel  life. 

To  step  from  the  Bowery  into  narrow  Doyers 
Street  is  to  plunge  from  noise  and  bustle  and 
thunderous  roar  into  a  spot  strangely  quiet. 
Doyers  Street  is  the  gateway  to  Chinatown.  In 
the  Bowery  you  are  in  cosmopolitan  New  York. 
When  you  step  into  Doyers  Street  and  mingle  with 
the  stolid,  expressionless  Chinese,  the  city  seems  far 
away.  Conventional  houses  are  here  transformed, 
sometimes  by  an  odd-shaped  balcony,  sometimes 
by  an  awning  of  unique  design,  sometimes  by  a 
congregation  of  red  and  blue  signs,  until  the  build- 
ings assume  a  quaint  oddity  to  be  found  nowhere 
else.  Even  the  shops,  with  windows  full  of  strange 
toys  and  flowering  garments — stores  that  are  black 
as  night  beyond  their  doors — even  these  possess  a 
picturesqueness. 

New  York's   Chinese  Theater. 


JS^ 


^ 


i 


A  Life-saving  Station. 


There  is  another  institution  close  by,  in  the  im- 
posing building  just  over  the  way,  that  has  for 
more  than  half  a  century  borne  its  part  in  the  re- 
habilitation of  this  once  degenerate  locality.  That 
home  of  the  Five  Points  Mission  stands  on  the 
site  of  the  old  Brewery,  one  of  the  rookeries  of  the 
Five  Points  of  old.  This  institution  was  the  pio- 
neer in  this  worst  locality  in  the  city,  organized  to 
work  among  the  poor  generally,  but  especially  in 
the  Five  Points.  During  all  these  years  it  has  kept 
steadily  on  with  its  task,  educating  the  poor  chil- 
dren, providing  them  with  food  and  clothing,  in- 
structing them  in  rudimentary  studies.  A  unique 
feature  of  the  work  is  the  shoe  club,  which  pro- 
vides shoes  for  shoeless  children.  Any  one  may 
be  a  member  by  contributing  a  dollar  or  one  pair 
of  shoes  each  year. 

Opposite  Mulberry  Bend  Park,  at  io6  Bayard 
Street,  is  Sunshine  Settlement,  a  center  for  the 
working  girls  of  the  neighborhood.  It  occupies 
part  of  a  house,  and  while  the  work  is  done  on  a 
small  scale,  it  is  earnestly  carried  on. 

Close  by  is  the  Italian  industrial  school  of  the 
Children's  Aid  Society,  at  156  Leonard  Street,  a 
school  that  is  limited  to  the  primary  grades.     The 

32 


From  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street 

school  was  established  in  1856,  in  an  attic,  with  a 
class  of  thirty  children.  It  is  now  housed  in  a 
handsome  stone  and  brick  building,  four  stories 
high,  and  there  are  more  than  600  pupils.  The 
Italian  government  furnishes  a  fund  to  pay  the 
salary  of  a  teacher,  whose  sole  duty  is  to  instruct 
the  children  in  pure  Italian,  for  the  many  dialects 
spoken  make  this  necessary.  The  school  is  open 
day  and  night,  and  educates  boys  and  girls,  men 
and  women.  Printing  is  one  of  the  branches 
taught  the  boys,  and  sewing,  cooking  and  lace- 
making  are  taught  the  girls.  A  very  valuable 
feature  is  a  night  school  for  adult  Italians. 

In  the  public  school  at  Mulberry  and  Bayard 
streets  is  seen  the  first  departure  from  the  old- 
time,  formal  buildings  to  the  new  style  of  architec- 
ture employed  in  recent  years  in  the  public  schools. 

Hidden  in  the  midst  of  the  Tombs  Prison,  a 
work  for  good  is  carried  on  that  is  rarely  heard  of 
except  by  those  interested,  or  by  those  unfortunate 
men  and  women  who  are  confined  there;  and  still 
for  more  than  thirty  years,  in  the  present  chapel  set 
apart  for  religious  services,  the  Gospel  Mission  to 


A   Line   of   Samples   from   the   Diet   Kitchen. 

the  Tombs  has  carried  on  its  labor  of  giving  hope 
and  comfort.  Its  work  is  to  carry  simple  gospel 
lessons  to  prisoners,  and  represents  the  combined 
Protestant  churches  of  the  city.  On  Sunday  four 
services  are  held,  and  during  the  week  the  prison- 
ers are  visited  individually.  In  connection  with  the 
mission  their  are  philanthropic  societies  at  work, 
giving  needed  help  to  the  families  of  the  prisoners. 

There  is  conducted,  in  connection  with  the  New 
York  Dispensary,  at  137  Center  Street,  one  of  the 
kitchens  of  the  New  York  Diet  Kitchen  Associa- 
tion. The  work  of  this  Association,  begun  in  1873, 
has  been  devoted  to  the  relief  of  the  destitute 
sick  by  furnishing  them  with  substantial  nourish- 
ment, properly  prepared.  It  has  been  found  that 
a  better  mode  of  operating  this  charity  is  to  make 
the  kitchens  adjuncts  of  the  dispensaries,  thereby 
securing  the  co-operation  of  visiting  physicians 
who  are  in  constant  communication  with  the  class 
to  be  relieved.  A  dispensary  doctor  finds  many  of 
his  patients  require  nourishing  foods  rather  than 
drugs,  and  the  dispensary  having  no  facilities  for 
preparing  such  a  diet,  the  kitchen  work  comes  in. 
As  a  rule,  pure  milk  is  the  article  most  called  for. 
The  Association  has  at  present  five  kitchens.  This 
one.  the  Wickham,  was  established  in  1876. 

In    Varick    Street,    close    by    Beach,    stands    St. 


34 


From  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street 


John's  Chapel  of  Trinity  Parish.  It  was  built  in 
1807  in  a  suburb  of  the  city.  By  1825  the  vicinity 
had  grown  to  be  a  quarter  where  wealth  and  fash- 
ion had  their  homes.  Facing  the  chapel  was  a 
delightful  park,  filled  with  great  shade  trees  ex- 
tending the  length  of  the  entire  block.  The  neigh- 
borhood continued  a  select  one  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  and  then  began  to  decline.  In  1869  the 
park  disappeared,  and  where  it  had  been  arose  the 
big  freight  depot  that  still  stands  there.  After 
that  the  vicinity  gradually  declined  into  a  tenement 
district. 

Next  door  to  the  Chapel,  on  the  north,  in  a 
vine-covered  house,  surrounded  with  grass  plots 
and  pleasant  walks,  is  the  Parish  Hospital,  where 
the  wards  are  free,  and  where  rooms  are  provided 
at  a  moderate  rate. 

Close  by  the  Chapel,  at  34  Varick  Street,  is  the 
Clergy  House,  which  is  the  center  for  general 
church  work.  Connected  with  the  Chapel  is  a» 
unique  private  charity  of  Trinity  Parish,  known  as 
the  "Leake  dole  of  bread."  In  1792,  General 
Leake,  a  wealthy  communicant  of  the  parish,  died, 

St.  John's  Lane. 


'"^^  '-''-  ^"^"W^ 


The  Better  New  York 

and  by  his  will  bequeathed  to  the  rector  and  ves- 
trymen of  Trinity  $5,000,  to  be  put  out  at  interest, 
the  income  to  be  laid  out  in  sixpenny  wheaten 
loves  of  bread,  to  be  distributed  among  the  poor. 
The  provisions  of  the  will  have  been  faithfully 
executed  for  more  than  a  century.  The  distribu- 
ting station  is  at  St.  John's  Chapel,  where  every 
Saturday  morning,  rain  or  shine,  sixty-seven  loaves 
of  bread  are  distributed  to  poor  women  and  chil- 
dren who  come  after  them. 

Directly  back  of  the  Chapel  of  St.  John  there 
is  a  thoroughfare  extending  the  length  of  a  single 
block,  called  St.  John's  Lane,  which  was  a  by-path 
when  the  church  was  built.  Since  then  a  great  city 
has  gradually  surrounded  it  and  quite  shut  it  in, 
leaving  it  a  dreary,  odd-looking  nook.  It  is  a  bit  of 
the  old-time  city,  quite  in  contrast  with  the  busy 
mercantile  district  that  hems  it  in  on  every  side. 

At  209  Fulton  Street  is  the  Mission  House  of 
the  Trinity  Church  Association,  which  carries  on 
charitable  worK  ni  the  downtown  district.  While 
the  work  is  done  more  or  less  in  connection  with 
Trinity  Church,  the  Association  is  independent  of 
the  Trinity  Corporation,  and  is  supported  by  the 
members  and  friends  of  the  Association. 

St.  Paul's  Chapel  of  Trinity  Parish,  standing  at 
Broadw2Py  and  Fulton  Street,  is  the  oldest  church 
building  in  New  York.  In  1764  the  corner  stone 
was  laid,  and  although  the  building  was  completed 
in  two  years,  the  steeple  was  not  added  until  1794. 
It  looks  odd  today  to  see  the  rear  of  the  church 
on  Broadway  and  the  building  facing  the  other 
way,  but  when  it  was  erected,  Broadway  was  little 
more  than  a  lane,  and  it  was  deemed  best  to  have 
the  church  facing  the  river,  between  which  and  the 
church  building  there  was  then  an  unobstructed 
view  and  a  smooth,  sandy  beach.  After  Trinity 
Church  had  been  burned  during  the  Revolution, 
St.  Paul's  Chapel  was  used  in  its  stead.  Washing- 
ton attended  church  there,  and  the  pew  in  which  he 
sat  is  still  preserved.  Close  by,  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  churchyard,  there  is  now  a  Clergy  House, 
in  which  are  the   executive  offices   of  the   Trinity 

36 


From  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street 

Corporation,  and  which  is  the  center  of  the  work 
of  St.  Paul's  Chapel. 

The  land  on  which  Trinity  Church  stands,  and 
that  around  it  for  many  blocks,  is  part  of  the 
Annetje  Jans  property,  which  was  laid  out  as  a 
farm  in  1636.  In  1670  this  farm  was  sold  to  Francis 
Lovelace,  the  English  governor,  and  he  joined 
it  with  some  other  possessions  of  his^  and  called 
the  whole  the  ''Duke's  Farm,"  after  the  Duke 
of  York,  owner  of  the  province.  In  1674,  when 
the  Duke  became  King  James  II.  of  England,  the 
tract  of  land  was  called  the  "King's  Farm."  This 
name  it  retained  until  the  accession  of  Queen 
Anne,  in  1702,  when  it  became  the  ''Queen's 
Farm."  In  1705,  Queen  Anne  granted  the  land 
to  Trinity  Corporation,  and  it  became  the  "Church 
Farm."  The  Church  Farm,  now  buried  beneath 
the  buildings  of  the  city,  is  still  controlled  in  great 
part  by  the  Trinity  Corporation,  making  it  the 
wealthiest  single  church  organization  in  the  world. 
The  present  Trinity  Church  is  the  third  of  that 
name.  The  first,  erected  in  1696,  was  burned  dur- 
ing the  Revolution.  A  new  structure,  built  in 
1790,  was  torn  down  in  1839,  and  the  present  church 
built.  Under  the  control  of  Trinity  Parish  are 
nine  churches.  Twenty-six  ordained  clergymen, 
besides  a  large  number  of  teachers,  deaconesses 
and  assistants,  carrv  on  the  work  of  these  various 
centers.  The  parish  also  gives  aid  to  twenty  other 
churches,  all  of  which  do  missionary  work  in  the 
poor  districts  of  the  city. 

Just  beyond  the  church  is  a  quaint  old  thorough- 
fare called  Thames  Street.  Originally  it  was  a 
carriage  w^ay  to  the  house  of  Etienne  De  Lancey,  a 
Huguenot  nobleman,  when  his  home  was  built  near 
the  Broadway  corner  in  1730.  Later,  the  house 
was  occupied  by  his  son  James,  who  was  then  Lieu- 
tenant Governor  of  the  Province  of  New  York. 
In  still  later  years  the  house  became  a  hotel,  and 
was,  in  1789,  the  scene  of  the  Inauguration  Ball  in 
honor  of  President  Washington.  The  house  was 
torn  down  in  1793. 

Where  Thames   Street  crosses  Trinity  Place,   a 
^7 


The  Better  New  York 

block  west  of  Broadway,  is  the  Church  House  of 
Trinity  Parish,  where  much  of  the  institutional 
work  of  the  parish  is  carried  on  along  educational 
and  social  lines. 

Around  the  corner,  at  112  Greenwich  Street,  is 
the  St.  Elizabeth  Society,  which  provides  a  home 
for  infirm  and  needy  communicants  of  Trinity 
Parish. 

At  95  Washington  Street  is  the  Syrian  Society, 
which  provides  educational  advantages  for  Syrian 
and  all  Arabic-speaking  immigrants.  Here  they 
gather  to  get  advice  and  instruction  from  teachers 
of  their  own  nationality,  when  otherwise  they 
might  wander  about,  aimless  and  friendless,  in  a 
strange  land,  where  they  have  come  to  make  their 
home. 

Near  by,  close  to  the  water  side,  at  23  West 
Street,  is  another  of  the  Slum  Posts  of  the  Salva- 
tion Army. 


Arms  of  the  Janitors'  Association. 


DIVISION  II. 

Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery. 

On  the  eastern  edge  of  the  city  a  point  of  the 
Island  of  Manhattan  projects  into  the  water,  just 
where  the  river  makes  a  quick  bend.  These  eight 
and  one-hah"  acres  of  open  space  make  up  Corlears 
Hook  Park,  a  delightful  spot,  swept  by  the 
breezes  from  the  river,  and  presenting  a  varied 
scene  of  passing  craft  of  every  sort.  The  making 
of  this  park  cleared  away  a  landmark  that  had  been 
connected  with  the  housing  problem  in  the  city. 
Almost  in  the  center  of  this  space,  on  what  was 
then  Water  Street,  there  was  erected,  in  1833,  the 
first  house  especially  designed  for  more  than  one 
family.  Land  was  becoming  more  and  more  val- 
uable year  by  year,  and  it  was  no  longer  profitable 
to  erect  houses  for  single  families.  INIany  had 
been  altered  to  accommodate  several  families,  but 
this  was  the  first  real  tenement  built  as  such.  It 
was  a  building  of  four  stories,  and  provided  for 
one  family  on  each  floor. 

A  block  north  of  Corlears  Hook  Park  is  the 
building  at  314  Monroe  Street,  a  model  tenement 
which  illustrates  well  the  ideas  of  improved  dwell- 
ings of  that  decade.  This  house,  besides  the  ad- 
vantages afforded  to  tenants,  is  noticeable  for  its 
outward  picturesque  construction,  having  galleries 
let  into  the  front  wall,  floor  above  floor. 

At  295  Henry  Street  is  the  Far  and  Near  Club 
of  the  New  York  Association  of  Working  Girls' 
Societies. 

The  public  school,  at  Henry  and  Gouverneur 
Streets,  is  a  noteworthy  example  of  advanced 
ideas  in  modern  school  architecture.  It  is  English 
Gothic,  and  is  built  of  red  sandstone,  with  red 
brick  in  the  upper  stories.  The  carving  is  hand- 
some and  tasteful,  though  not  expensive. 

In  a  low,  pleasant-appearing  brick  house,  at  4 
Willett  Street,  is  an  industrial  school  of  the  Amer- 
ican Female  Guardian  Society. 

39 


The  Better  New  York 

Twenty  years  and  more  ago  Miss  Catherine  L. 
Wolfe  contributed  funds  for  the  erection  of  a  sub- 
stantial building  at  East  Broadway  and  Gouver- 
neur  Street,  for  the  Children's  Aid  Society.  It  was 
built,  was  called,  and  is  still  called,  'The  East  Side 
Industrial  School,"  and  is  now  one  of  nineteen  such 
schools  of  the  society  which  have  been  established 
from  time  to  time  in  the  tenement-house  districts. 
In  these  schools  are  enrolled  something  more  than 
16,000  children.  Industrial  manual  training  is  a 
feature.  The  work  is  limited  to  the  primary 
grades,  because  the  pupils,  being  children  of  poor 
parents,  are  forced  to  go  to  work  at  an  early  age. 
It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  crowd  as  much 
knowledge  into  these  primary  grades  as  possible, 
and  the  development  of  this  early  training  is  much 
greater  in  these  industrial  schools  than  in  the  pub- 
lic schools.  To  interest  the  children  in  elementary 
branches  of  education,  they  are  combined  with 
manual-training  subjects,  so  when  learning  to  read 
and  write,  the  little  ones  are  also  taught  cooking, 
dressmaking,  carpentry,  chair-caning,  shoemaking 
and  a  dozen  kindred  things.  To  the  very  poor 
children,  shoes  and  clothing  are  given,  and,  in  some 
cases,    food.      Not    alone    are    the    children    cared 


The  Education  of  a  Breakfast  for  Foodless  Italian  Children. 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery 

for,  but  their  parents  are  looked  after  as  necessity 
requires. 

Around  the  corner,  at  299  Henry  Street,  is  one 
of  the  kindergartens  under  the  charge  of  the  New- 
York  Kindergarten  Association.  This  one  is  called 
the  George  William  Curtis,  and  has  been  there 
since  1893.  It  is  supported  by  special  contribu- 
tions from  New  York  bankers  and  brokers. 

In  1893  two  nurses  moved  into  this  tenement- 
house  section,  determined  to  make  it  their  life 
work  to  serve  the  sick  as  nurses,  believing  that  in 
so  doing  they  would  make  the  world  brighter  to 
many.  They  lived  on  the  top  floor  of  a  tenement 
house  for  two  years,  and  by  that  time  their  work 
had  grown  so  that  they  were  joined  by  other 
nurses,  and  thus  began  the  Nurses'  Settlement. 
After  a  time  they  moved  into  the  large  house  at 
265  Henry  Street^  which  they  now  occupy.  Year 
by  year  the  work  grew  larger;  the  nursing  was  ex- 
tended, and  to  the  original  idea  were  added  clubs 
and  social  features.  A  home  in  the  country  was 
finally  started  where  tired-out  people  were  enter- 
tained, and  outings  given  to  the  younger  genera- 
tion. In  three  other  crowded  quarters  of  the  city 
were  established  'Tirst  Aid  Rooms,"  in  each  of 
which  there  are  nurses  in  attendance  who  look 
after  cases  of  illness  that  are  not  serious  enough 
for  hospital  attention.  Of  course,  the  nursing  work 
is  the  real  reason  for  the  existence  of  the  settle- 
ment, and  the  general  plan  under  which  the  work 
is  carried  on  is  to  have  one  nurse  each  in  a  number 
of  small  districts,  and  each  nurse  in  close  touch 
with  the  Settlement  House.  In  the  course  of  a 
year  something  more  than  3,000  patients  are  treated 
in  their  homes,  more  than  2,000  are  visited,  and 
about   12,000  treated  in  the  ''First  Aid  Rooms." 

Next  door  is  the  Hebrew  Technical  School  for 
Girls,  which  for  more  than  twenty  years  has  been 
daily  pursuing  its  work  of  assisting  poor  Jewish 
children  to  make  their  way  in  life.  Girls  who  grad- 
uate from  the  public  schools  are  here  given  free 
instruction  in  stenography,  typewriting,  bookkeep- 
ing and  other  branches.  Others  who  are  so  in- 
clined are  trained  for  milliners   and  dressmakers. 

4x 


The  Better  New  York 

There  is  a  branch  of  the  Educational  Alliance 
housed  at  302  Madison  Street,  the  outgrowth  of  a 
single  class  in  history  and  social  science.  Young 
men  and  women,  members  of  the  class,  determined 
to  give  those  less  happily  situated  an  opportunity 
to  improve  themselves^  and  formed  classes,  clubs 
and  circles  for  children  and  adults,  the  teachers  of 
which  were  members  of  the  original  class.  Neigh- 
borhood work  of  a  practical  character  is  also  car- 
ried on  in  a  quiet  way,  and  social  intercourse 
brought  about  by  entertainments,  lectures  and 
friendly  gatherings. 

Another  of  the  kindergartens  under  the  charge 
of  the  New  York  Kindergarten  Association,  estab- 
lished in  1894,  the  Sibyl  F.  Hubbard,  is  at  310 
Madison  Street. 

At  Gouverneur  Slip,  by  the  East  River,  is 
Gouverneur  Hospital,  one  of  the  allied  institutions 
of  Bellevue  Hospital,  with  a  reception  hospital 
for  accidents,  a  dispensary,  and  ambulance  service. 
As  both  Bellevue  and  Gouverneur  are  emergency 
hospitals,  patients  are  interchanged  between  the 
two  as  necessity  demands. 

In  Cherry  Street,  close  by  Montgomery  Street, 
there  is  a  block  of  six  houses  that  outwardly,  in 
regularity  of  architecture  and  orderliness  of  ap- 
pearance, bear  resemblance  more  to  a  public  build- 
ing than  anything  else.  These  are  model  tene- 
ments, one  of  the  earliest  efforts  in  scientific  im- 
proved housing  in  the  city,  and  contain  kindergar- 
ten-rooms, laundries  and  bathrooms.  They  were 
erected  in  1887  by  the  Tenement-house  Building 
Committee,  and  while  they  were  a  vast  improve- 
ment over  tenement  houses  up  to  that  time,  and 
are  still  desirable,  many  scientific  advances  have 
been  made  since  then. 

In  the  next  block  to  the  south,  306  Cherry 
Street,  is  held  to  be  the  first  real  model  tenement 
in  the  city.  Dr.  Felix  Adler,  head  of  the  Society 
for  Ethical  Culture,  and  other  influential  men,  be- 
gan an  agitation  which  led  to  the  building  of  these 
houses  in  1880.  They  do  not  possess  the  qualifica- 
tions  necessary   to   improved   tenements   of   today, 

42 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery 

but   are   of   interest   in   studying   the    evolution   in 
improved  housing. 

In  a  congested  tenement  district  of  the  East 
Side,  a  spot  where  squalor  and  poverty  have  fast 
hold,  there  is  a  house  of  such  pleasing  appearance 
that  few  pass  it  without  stopping.  Its  chief  out- 
ward characteristic  is  a  doorway  painted  pure 
white.  From  this  it  takes  its  name,  "the  White 
Door."  This  house,  211  Clinton  Street,  is  the 
Gospel  Settlement,  a  settlement  thoroughly  re- 
ligious in  character.  Primarily  it  works  for  chil- 
dren and  young  girls,  but,  indirectly,  it  works  for 
the  good  of  parents  and  homes,  because,  through 
the  children,  the  settlement  comes  in  touch  with 
more  than  a  thousand  families   of  the   East   Side. 

William  H.  Seward  Park,  at  the  far  end  of  Canal 
Street,  is  a  remarkably  situated  pleasure  spot  for 
the  poor.  Set  in  the  heart  of  the  densely  pop- 
ulated East  Side,  it  is  a  place  where,  within  the 
space  of  a  few  hundred  feet^  a  dozen  streets  con- 
verge. This  makes  it  the  natural  point  towards 
which  population  tends.  The  park,  which  occupies 
the  space  of  three  city  blocks,  was  acquired  in  1897, 
but  it  was  hve  years  before  the  massed  buildings 
occupying  the  ground  were  razed,  and  the  park 
opened.  Now  it  is  not  only  an  attractive  garden 
spot,  with  walks  and  playgrounds,  set  out  with 
trees  and  grass  plots,  but  almost  one-third  of  it 
is  set  apart  as  an  arena,  where  a  nine-lap  running 
track  incloses  a  gymnasium,  scientifically  equipped. 
There  is  also  a  splendid  rest  building,  an  artistic 
and  substantial  structure  of  stone,  which  includes 
fifty  baths  of  the  most  sanitary  sort. 

At  the  park  side,  just  where  Jefferson  Street 
touches  East  Broadway,  is  the  main  building  of 
the  Educational  Alliance.  This  institution  seeks 
to  form  good  American  citizens  by  giving  to  all 
classes  the  advantages  of  education,  directing  to- 
ward the  way  leading  to  moral  improvement,  and 
extending  to  all  the  means  of  obtaining  social 
advantages.  The  work  of  the  Alliance,  centering 
here  in  a  neighborhood  inhabited  chiefly  by  He- 
brews, concerns  them  for  the  most  part,  but  its  ad- 

43 


The  Better  New  York 

vantages  are  open  to  all.  The  continued  and  con- 
stantly increasing  efforts  of  the  Alliance  have  been 
going  on  since  1889.  In  the  building  there  are 
rooms  and  halls  especially  adapted  for  study  and 
recreation.  Each  day  there  are  held  classes  and 
lectures  covering  every  branch  of  learning.  There 
is  a  gymnasium  fitted  up  with  every  appliance 
which  science  can  devise,  including  every  manner 
of  bath.  On  the  building's  roof  is  a  garden,  where 
in  the  summer  months  alone  more  than  400,000 
persons  attend  concerts.  The  building,  too,  houses 
more  than  sixty  clubs,  the  number  being  limited 
only  by  the  capacity  of  the  structure. 

Here  is  one  of  the  branches  of  the  New  York 
Library,  with  a  good  selection  of  books  in  Rus- 
sian and  Hebrew.  This  was  originally  one  of  the 
branches  of  the  Aguilar  Free  Library  Society, 
which,  in  1903,  was  merged  into  the  New  York 
Public  Library. 

There  is  also  connected  with  the  Alliance  the 
Baron  De  Hirsch  Day  School,  which  fits  immi- 
grant children  for  the  primary  department  of 
public  schools. 

A  legal  aid  branch  mainly  informs  people  as 
to  their  rights,  and  advises  them  as  to  the  proper 
course  to  pursue.  It  acts  also  as  arbitrator  in 
disputes. 

The  work  extends  beyond  this  main  building, 
for  there  are  two  branches  in  other  parts  of  the 
city,  an  athletic  field  in  the  country,  and  a  summer 
camp  for  boys.  Altogether  it  is  estimated  that 
the  work  of  the  Alliance  in  all  its  branches  daily 
reaches  more  than  5,000  people. 

The  very  first  road  that  extended  the  length  of 
the  Island  of  Manhattan  and  formed,  as  early  as 
1647,  a  means  of  communication  between  New 
Amsterdam  and  the  farms  or  bouweries  to  the 
north,  was  called  Bouwerie  Lane.  At  the  time  of 
the  Revolution  the  British  army  of  occupation  en- 
camped along  this  lane,  which  had  at  that  time 
become  a  street;  drinking  shops  and  places  of  low 
entertainment  sprang  up  to  amuse  the  leisure  hours 
of  the  soldiers,  and  when  the  army  vanished,  it  left 

44 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery 

its  curse  upon  the  Bowery,  a  curse  that  remains  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent  to  this  day.  It  was  called 
the  Bowery  Road  in  those  days.  In  the  early  part 
of  the  nineteenth  century  it  became  'The  Bowery," 
and  so  remains.  Along  this  historic  thoroughfare 
there  are  now  many  changes  that  contribute  to 
the  Better  New  York. 

At  83  Bowery  is  one  of  the  social  institutions 
of  the  Salvation  Army — a  lodging  house  for  men, 
a  clean,  airy  place,  where  a  bed  and  a  bath  can  be 
had  for  fifteen  cents,  with  a  strong  effort  to  give 
the  lodgers  a  touch  of  home  comfort. 

Two  blocks  beyond,  at  131,  is  the  Squirrel  Inn, 
a  substitute  for  the  saloon,  conducted  by  the 
Church  Temperance  Society.  Here  a  meal,  whole- 
some and  well  cooked,  can  be  had  for  fifteen  cents. 
In  connection  with  the  Inn  there  is  a  free  library 
and  a  free  reading-room.  During  each  week,  too, 
there  are  entertainments  of  a  simple,  wholesome 
character  that  are  free  to  all  who  care  to  attend. 

The   Y.    M.    C.   A.— A   Bowery   Social    Center. 


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The  Better  New  York 

The  work,  which  started  as  an  experiment,  has 
been  so  successful  that  it  can  well  serve  as  a  work- 
ing model  for  other  communities. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  carries 
on  a  work  quite  different  from  that  of  the  other 
branches  at  the  next  corner,  153  Bowery,  for  here 
a  special  effort  is  made  to  feed  and  shelter  men 
seeking  employment.  Through  its  employment 
bureau,  which  seeks  to  get  these  men  positions, 
thousands  find  refuge  from  the  street,  and  are  able 
to  keep  up  a  presentable  appearance  while  seeking 
a  position. 

God's  Providence  House,  in  Broome  Street,  just 
east  of  the  Bowery,  has  a  busy  round  of  work  in 
the  day  nursery  and  its  various  outgrowths.  In 
fact,  what  is  styled  the  day  nursery  consists  of  four 
departments:  the  day  nursery,  the  kindergarten, 
an  afternoon  session  for  children  of  school  age 
who  stay  at  the  house  from  the  close  of  school  un- 
til their  mothers  return  from  work,  and  the  vested 
choir^  made  up  of  some  twenty-four  of  the  chil- 
dren, adding  greatly  in  attracting  to  the  Sunday 
evening  services  the  day  nursery  families.  There 
are  large  industrial  school  and  gymnasium  classes, 
boys'  clubs,  reading-rooms  and  a  circulating  li- 
brary. The  work  is  supported  by  the  New  York 
Protestant  Episcopal  City  Mission  Society. 

There  is  a  novel  Children's  House  at  129  Chrys- 
tie  Street,  a  "private  home,"  and  its  host  is  David 
Willard,  also  principal  of  the  Tombs  Prison 
School,  and  probation  officer  in  General  and  Spe- 
cial Sessions  and  Magistrates'  Court.  Mr.  Willard 
has  been  at  work  among  the  street  boys  for  some 
years,  and  many  who  come  to  his  home  have  been 
in  prison,  some  of  them  classed  as  incorrigibles. 
Mr.  Willard,  when  he  began  his  missionary  work 
among  them,  realized  that  the  majority  had  nat- 
urally drifted  from  street  life  to  worse  things,  and 
his  idea  has  been  to  have  them  meet  in  his  pleas- 
ant house  good  men  and  women,  under  whose 
influence  they  begin  to  see  life  from  a  different 
point  of  view,  and  learn  something  of  self-respect 
and  a  desire  for  better  things.     No  matter  what 

46 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery 

his  misdeeds,  a  boy  is  never  refused  admittance. 
These  boys  are  guests  for  a  few  days  or  a  few 
weeks,  as  employment  is  found  for  them  as  soon 
as  it  is  possible^  with  a  home  in  a  respectable  fam- 
ily. Each  boy  is  required  to  keep  his  room  in  or- 
der, and  when  possible  a  small  price  for  room  and 
board  is  charged.  Some  of  the  most  pitiful  cases 
among  the  boys  come  from  the  hospitals  as  con- 
valescents. Utterly  homeless,  and  not  strong 
enough  to  work  if  they  could,  this  home  becomes 
an  in-between  place  for  bracing  up  morally  and 
physically. 

In  the  Bowery,  at  222,  is  the  Young  Men's  Insti- 
tute, a  branch  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, which  has  been  in  existence  more  than 
fifteen  years,  and  seeks  to  reach  men  who  are  self- 
supporting,  whose  employment  generally  leaves 
them  some  time  to  study,  but  whose  education, 
perhaps,  has  not  been  sufficient  to  enable  them  to 
fill  positions  for  which  they  are  otherwise  fitted. 
This  lack  is  met  by  opportunities  in  the  evening 
classes  of  the  Institute  for  business  training  and 
other  aids  to  self-help.  The  membership  is  de- 
cidedly cosmopolitan.  In  it  are  to  be  found  rep- 
resentatives of  the  postofifice,  fire  department  and 
police  force.  Here  was  inaugurated  the  first  gym- 
nasium directed  by  a  medical  graduate,  a  feature 
that  has  been  gradually  adopted  by  the  majority 
of  the  gymnasiums  in  New  York. 

Near  Stanton  Street,  at  243  Bowery,  is  another 
of  the  Salvation  Army  lodging  houses,  this  one  for 
working  women  exclusiveh^^  where  a  bed  can  be 
had  for  a  nominal  sum.  The  Salvation  Army  was 
quick  to  see  the  need  of  providing  homes  where 
the  self-respecting  woman,  temporarily  embar- 
rassed from  lack  of  means,  may  obtain  a  low- 
priced,  but  comfortable  lodging.  There  should  be 
many  more  such  homes. 

In  Houston  Street,  a  few  doors  east  of  the 
Bowery,  is  St.  Augustine's,  a  chapel  of  Trinity 
Parish,  one  of  the  prettiest  and  most  complete 
little  churches  in  the  city.  Gothic  in  style,  the 
building    is  surmounted  by  a  steeple  bearing  on  its 

47 


The  Better  New  York 

summit  a  crystal  cross,  which  on  Sunday  and  feast- 
day  nights  is  illuminated,  so  that  it  can  be  seen 
for  a  great  distance.  The  interior  is  furnished  in 
Queen  Anne  style.  In  connection  with  this  chapel 
is  a  parish-house,  where  the  institutional  work  of 
the  congregation  is  carried  on.  A  characteristic 
feature  of  this  work,  beyond  clubs  and  classes,  is 
a  cooking  and  laundry  school,  in  both  of  which  the 
course  is  most  comprehensive,  and  lasts  three  years. 

In  Rivington  Street,  a  block  from  the  Bowery,  is 
Mills  Hotel  No.  2.,  similar  in  all  respects  to  Mills 
Hotel  No.  I,  with  six  hundred  rooms  at  twenty 
cents  per  night. 

In  a  social  settlement  a  number  of  men  and 
women,  usually  a  small  number,  live  together 
among  manual  workers  in  a  neighborly  and  a  social 
spirit.  They  live,  as  a  rule,  in  a  building  which  can 
be  used  for  social  or  educational  work,  and  from 
this  building  flows  a  continuous  service  of  such 
work.  The  workers  make  their  home  in  the  set- 
tlement house,  and  for  that  reason  are  known  as 
re.sident  workers.  To  make  more  bright  the  life 
of  each  individual  and  of  every  family  is  the  chief 
aim  of  these  workers.  They  organize  the  people 
of  a  district,  men  and  women  and  children,  into 
clubs  of  a  social  and  educational  character,  through 
which  local  reforms,  moral,  industrial  and  educa- 
tional, may  be  achieved,  and  this  is  done  without 
regard  to  religious  or  political  belief.  These  ob- 
jects are  attained  by  a  hundred  different  modes 
of  activity.  The  science  of  physical  health  is 
taught  through  gymnasiums,  games,  baths,  first 
aid  to  sick  and  injured,  health  talks  to  mothers. 
Ideas  of  thrift  are  inculcated  by  means  of  the 
penny  savings  bank.  There  are  sewing  classes, 
clay  modeling;  history  and  singing  are  taught, 
pointing  the  way  toward  aesthetic  tastes;  games 
and  scientific  playing  lead  to  sociability.  These 
are  some  of  the  activities  of  a  social  settlement, 
activities  that  are  boundless  in  their  scope. 

The  idea  of  the  social  settlement  was  brought 
in  fairly  organized  form  to  the  United  States  from 
England,  and  in  1887  was  started  as  the  Neighbor- 
hood Guild,  which  has  since  taken  the  name  of  the 

48 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery 

University  Settlement,  and  is  now  at  184  Eldridge 
Street,  the  pioneer  house  in  the  United  States. 
There  are  more  than  twenty-five  of  these  settle- 
ments now  in  the  city,  without  counting  the  in- 
stitutional churches,  which  in  idea  and  develop- 
ment carry  on  work  of  a  similar  nature. 

The  Janitors'  Society,  with  headquarters  at  103 
Attorney  Street,  and  a  branch  at  East  One-hun- 
dredth Street,  is  doing  excellent  service.  Evening 
classes  are  held,  which  take  up  such  subjects  as 
English,  citizenship,  hygiene,  physical  culture,  fire- 
extinguishing,  rudimentary  carpentry  and  plumb 
ing.  On  Saturdays  and  Sundays  a  school  for 
girls  from  twelve  to  sixteen  years  old,  daughters 
of  the  members,  is  conducted,  when  they  are 
taught  sewing,  knitting,  singing  and  elementary 
music.  A  mutual  benefit  branch  of  the  Society 
enables  free  medical  treatment  to  be  given  in  the 
event  of  sickness,  and  also  an  allowance  of  three 
dollars  per  week  for  a  period  of  ten  weeks.  These 
expenses  are  met  by  dues,  voluntary  contributions 
and  the  proceeds  of  two  entertainments  that  are 
held  annually.  In  connection  with  the  Society 
there  is  also  a  free  employment  bureau,  and  one 
for  legal  aid  for  the  members. 

In  a  plain,  neat-appearing  building,  at  95  Riving- 
ton  Street,  in  a  district  where  venders  of  merchan- 
dise from  push  carts  most  congregate,  is  the  home 
of  the  College  Settlement.  The  College  Settle- 
ment in  scope  is,  generally  speaking,  the  same  as 
the  social  settlement,  the  object  being  to  have  a 
common  meeting  ground  for  educated  and  the  less 
privileged  classes.  They  have  clubs  for  all  ages,  as 
well  as  resident  and  non-resident  workers.  Young 
college  women,  who  want  to  know  at  first  hand 
how  their  poor  brothers  and  sisters  live,  and  how 
they  may  be  benefited,  here  get  the  practical  dem- 
onstration. This  is  one  of  the  earliest  settlement 
movements  in  this  country,  the  idea  starting  in 
London,  where  it  was  formally  organized  in   1890. 

The  Pro-Cathedral,  at  130  Stanton  Street,  a 
church  settlement,  as  the  name  denotes,  aims  not 
only  to  bring  the  church  to  the  people,  but  the 
people    into    the    church.      The    services    are    held 

49 


The  Better  New  York 

from  daylight  on  Sunday  until  almost  nightfall,  in 
order  to  suit  every  age  and  every  condition,  in 
addition  to  the  weekday  services.  There  are  a 
dozen  resident  workers,  and  some  150  men  and 
women  come  from  their  comfortable  homes  all 
over  the  city  to  spend  an  afternoon  or  evening 
each  week  to  help  out  the  fifty  or  more  organ- 
izations. The  effort  is  always  an  uphill  one,  as 
the  people  reached  are  constantly  changing,  and  it 
is  the  aim  of  the  settlement  to  get  their  people  to 
move  uptown  or  out  of  town  into  better  light  and 
air,  so  that  vacancies  are  constantly  being  filled 
from  a  lower  and  still  lower  level.  There  are  some 
ten  thousand  people  within  a  few  feet  of  the 
church,  and  this  is  probably  the  most  crowded  dis- 
trict in  the  world.  Among  the  special  features  are 
clubs  of  every  kind  for  young  and  old,  gymna- 
siums, baths,  day  nurseries,  clothing  bureaus,  dis- 
pensaries, libraries  and  a  volunteer  choir  of  men 
and  boys,  also  an  out-of-town  house  for  summer 
outings. 

In  the  heart  of  a  congested  tenement  district,  at 
173  Rivington  Street,  is  another  school  of  the 
Children's  xA.id  Society,  the  Lord  Memorial.  The 
population  hereabouts  consists  chiefly  of  Hebrews, 
living  in  such  small  and  dismal  quarters  that  the 
children  find  more  comfort  in  the  streets  than 
in  their  cheerless  homes.  The  school  is  made  a 
home  to  them,  and  tries  to  counteract  the  effects 
of  squalid  surroundings  by  instilling  beautiful 
thoughts  into  their  minds  and  encouraging  them 
with  the  knowledge  of  what  has  been  done  by 
great  men  and  great  women. 

Under  the  charge  of  the  New  York  City  Mis- 
sion and  Tract  Society  is  the  De  Witt  Memorial 
Church,  at  280  Rivington  Street.  Here  is  main- 
tained an  English  and  Jewish  sewing  school,  vari- 
ous boys'  and  girls'  clubs,  women's  meetings  and 
children's  hours,  a  Chinese  Sunday-school  and 
evening  school.  In  the  midst  of  a  neighborhood 
where  the  downward  path,  morally  and  spiritually, 
is  broad  and  easy,  this  church  has  for  years  been 
proclaiming  and  pointing  out  a  better  way,  and  its 
cross-crowned  spire,  pointing  heavenward,  is  sym- 
bolic of  its  mission. 

50 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery 

Within  a  few  blocks  of  the  river,  at  Rivington 
and  Cannon  streets,  is  a  substantial  building  which, 
because  of  its  outward  appearance,  has  come  to  be 
called  the  "White  House."  It  is  the  Alfred  Corn- 
ing Clark  Neighborhood  House,  established  in 
1898  as  a  memorial  to  a  most  helpful  citizen  of 
New  York,  destined  to  assemble  the  children  of  the 
vicinity  in  one  vast  neighborly  family,  to  educate 
and  train  them.  The  work  designs  to  cover  the 
surrounding  district  of  about  no  acres,  the  popu- 
lation of  which  is,  approximately,  600  people  to  the 
acre.  A  feature  of  this  house  is  its  perfect  equip- 
ment of  rooms  for  kindergartens,  kitchens  and 
gymnasiums.  It  has  eight  kindergartens,  besides 
clubs  for  boys  and  girls,  and  classes  in  cooking  and 
dressmaking.  In  the  building  is  an  assembly  hall 
seating  400  persons,  where  are  given  free  lectures 
and  entertainments.  It  is  estimated  that  4,000 
human  beings  enjoy  these  advantages,  some  of 
them  making  daily^  others  weekly  visits. 

Where  Third  Street  touches  the  East  River 
there  is  a  long  pier  extending  350  feet  out  into 
the  water.  Built  over  this  pier  is  a  roof  garden. 
It    is    fourteen    leet    above   the   pier   floor,    and    is 


Alfred 

Corning  Clark 
Memorial 
House. 


The  Better  New  York 

covered  over  with  a  high  arched  roof,  with  the 
sides  open  to  give  an  open-air  effect.  This  is  the 
first  of  the  city's  eight  recreation  piers;  was  built 
in  1897,  and  was  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  world. 
These  piers  take  the  place  of  parks  as  recreation 
grounds  in  crowded  localities,  and,  while  less  cost- 
ly, are  benefited  by  river  breezes,  and  in  no  way 
interfere  with  business.  The  first  pier  was  built  as 
an  experiment,  and  proved  so  successful  that  seven 
others  have  been  built  in  the  intervening  years. 
They  are  open  to  the  public  from  IMay  until  No- 
vember, until  after  ten  o'clock  at  night.  During 
the  day  they  are  utilized  by  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, for  kindergarten  classes  are  held  in  them, 
and  in  the  evening  there  is  music,  which  is  enjoyed 
by  thousands. 

At  125  Lewis  Street  is  one  of  the  industrial 
schools  of  the  American  Female  Guardian  Society. 

The  largest  school  building  in  the  world  is  sit- 
uated at  Lewis  and  Third  Streets,  including  within 
its  walls  two  distinct  schools,  eighty-seven  class- 
rooms, and  four  kindergarten-rooms,  gymnasiums, 
baths  and  a  manual  training  department.  The 
building  covers  an  area  of  212  by  180  feet,  and 
can  accommodate  4,000  pupils. 

Based  on  the  recommendations  of  the  Mayor's 
Committee  on  Public  Baths,  at  the  foot  of  Riv- 
ington  Street  stands  the  first  P>ee  Public  Bath, 
erected  by  the  City  of  New  York,  and  this  was 
opened  March  2-],  1901.  During  the  first  three 
months  160,700  men  and  boys,  and  70,950  women 
and  girls  availed  themselves  of  this  opportunity 
for  comfort  and  cleanliness.  These  baths  are  open 
from  6  A.M.  to  9  P.M.,  except  on  Sunday,  when 
they  are  closed  at  12  J\l. 

In  the  year  1896  might  be  found  on  the  east  side 
of  the  city,  between  Houston,  Stanton,  Sheriff  and 
Pitt  Streets,  two  solidly  built-up  bloks,  that  came 
under  the  head  of  slum  centers,  where  the  popula- 
tion was  fearfully  congested,  where  misery  and 
poverty  dwelt,  where  crime  was  rife.  In  the  midst 
of  one  of  these  was  the  dreadful  hole  called  Bone 
Alley.  In  this  year,  1896,  after  much  discussion, 
the  city  acquired  these  two  blocks,  razed  the  build- 

52 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery 

ings  and  began  the  laying-out  of  one  of  the  small 
parks  recommended.  Today,  where  these  two  old 
slum  blocks  stood,  is  the  Hamilton  Fish  Park,  one 
part  a  playground  with  a  gymnasium  and  a  kinder- 
garten, fitted  up  in  the  most  modern  style  for 
pastime  and  recreation;  the  other  section  a  sweep 
of  green  lawns,  with  a  stretch  of  inviting  benches, 
and  an  imposing  rest  house,  containing  baths  of 
the  most  improved  sort. 

The    German    Branch    Industrial  School   of   the 

Children's    Aid    Society    is    at   272  Second    Street, 

with  such  characteristic  features  as  a  vacation 
school  and  a  playground. 

The  Children's  Charitable  Union,  which  has  its 
quarters  at  341  East  Fourth  Street,  has  been,  for 
close  upon  a  quarter  of  a  century,  making  strong 
efforts  to  do  good  work  among  the  children  of 
the  poor. 

The  Virginia  Day  Nursery  is  the  pioneer  insti- 
tution of  this  kind  in  New  York,  with  its  home  at 
632  Fifth  Street,  in  a  four-story  building,  espe- 
cially equipped  with  all  modern  scientific  and  hygi- 
enic requirements.  This  institution  has  been  in 
existence  since  1875.  Children  under  seven  years 
©f  age  left  here  by  their  mothers  during  the  work- 
ing hours  receive  two  meals  each  day,  have  the 
advantage  of  kindergarten  instruction,  are  given 
opportunities  for  amusement,  are  under  a  physi- 
cian's supervision,  and  may  rest  and  sleep;  all  at 
the  nominal  charge  of  five  cents  a  day  for  each 
child.  A  feature  of  this  especial  nursery  is  the 
playground  on  the  roof,  open  and  shaded  by 
awnings. 

In  the  day  nurseries,  children  of  poor  women 
are  properly  cared  for  and  kept  from  harm  and 
mischief,  while  their  mothers  are  out  at  work. 
In  some,  kindergarten  work  is  taught,  in  others 
there  are  trained  nurses  where  sick  children  are 
cared  for,  and  in  still  others  only  the  smallest 
babies  are  looked  after.  The  idea  of  the  Day  Nur- 
series came  from  France.  It  had  its  birth  in 
America  in  1863,  when  Miss  Biddle  opened  the 
first    one    in    Philadelphia.      Sometimes    they    are 

5^ 


The  Better  New  York 

supported  by  voluntary  subscriptions,  sometimes 
by  endowments,  and  in  many  cases  they  are  main- 
tained by  churches  or  charitable  institutions.  There 
are  many  in  New  York^  from  the  very  large  and 
prosperous  ones  occupying  an  entire  building,  to 
small  ones  maintained  in  a  single  room. 

At  158  East  Seventh  Street  the  New  York  Diet 
Kitchen  Association  maintains  the  Rusch  Kitchen. 

In  a  building  at  630  Sixth  Street,  erected  in  1891 
by  an  interested  member  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society,  is  one  of  the  industrial  schools  of  that 
organization.  The  singing,  games  and  dancing  in 
the  playground  attract  the  poor  and  forlorn  chil- 
dren of  the  neighborhood,  and  these  waifs  often 
spend  the  entire  day  in  the  allotted  work  and  play 
of  the  school. 

Beyond  Avenue  C,  at  368  East  Eighth  Street,  is 
another  of  the  industrial  schools  of  the  American 
Female  Guardian  Society. 

Around  in  Avenue  C,  corner  of  Eighth  Street, 
in  a  substantial  structure,  is  the  home  of  a  circula- 
ting branch  of  the  New  York  Public  Library.  It 
was  formerly  a  part  of  the  Aguilar  Free  Library 
Society,  merged  in  1903  into  the  New  York  Pub- 
lic Library.  This  branch  is  soon  to  be  housed  in 
one  of  the  new  Carnegie  buildings,  facing  Thomp- 
kins  Square,  in  which  there  will  be  an  auditorium 
and  many  other  facilities  for  extended  work. 

Centering  around  the  People's  Home  Church 
and  Settlement  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  de- 
nomination, at  545  East  Eleventh  Street,  are  mani- 
fold religious,  social  and  philanthropic  activities. 
This  settlement  had  its  beginning  in  a  Sunday- 
school  more  than  thirty  years  ago  in  this  same 
locality. 

Tompkins  Square,  that  modern  park  and  play- 
ground at  Seventh  Street  and  Avenue  A,  running 
to  Avenue  B,  was  a  famous  snipe  ground  in  1816, 
when  it  was  a  swamp  far  above  the  city  limits.  By 
the  year  1866  it  had  come  to  be  a  parade  ground, 
and  was  then  paved  with  concrete.     In  later  years 

54 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery 

it  has  been  remodeled  and  laid  out  as  a  modern 
public  park,  with  a  gymnasium  and  a  kindergarten. 

In  a  nearby  street  is  Christodora  House.  The 
co-(5peration  between  the  residents,  the  club  mem- 
bers, and  friends  who  live  in  other  parts  of  the 
city  is  the  keynote  of  the  success  of  this  settle- 
ment. In  1897  the  settlement  was  organized,  when 
two  young  women  rented  an  ordinary  five-room 
flat,  a  cellar  and  the  little  back  room  of  a  store, 
and  went  there  to  live.  An  iron  bedstead,  mat- 
tress, a  common  kitchen  table,  three  or  four 
wooden  chairs — this  was  the  furniture  of  the  apart- 
ment. With  the  first  month's  rent  paid,  they  had 
$15  in  their  purse.  These  women  sought,  with 
this  humble  beginning,  to  bring  together  for  good 
the  25,000  young  women  who  earn  their  bread  in 
factories  and  workshops,  and  who  live  in  the 
vicinity.  The  years  have  brought  success.  The 
dark  cellar  has  been  left  far  behind,  and  the  beau- 
tiful home  at  147  Avenue  B,  opposite  the  breezy 
space  of  trees  called  Tompkins  Square,  has  taken 
its  place. 

Besides  the  winter  courses  of  the  Tompkins 
Square    Industrial    School    of    the    Children's    Aid 


Christodora. 


The  Better  New  York 


Society,  at  295  East  Eighth  Street,  a  summer 
school  has  been  carried  on  with  very  satisfactory 
results.  Its  mothers'  meetings,  with  talks  on 
home  conditions,  have  done  needed  social  service. 

Caring  for  girls  between  the  ages  of  five  and 
fourteen,  in  cases  where  the  poverty  of  their 
parents  acts  as  a  bar  to  regular  attendance  at  the 
public  schools,  is  the  mission  of  the  Wilson  Indus- 
trial School  for  Girls,  the  home  of  which  is  in  a 
square  brick  building  opposite  Tompkins  Square 
Park.  It  bears  the  distinction  of  being  the  first 
industrial  school  in  the  city,  and  began  its  work  in 
1853.  It  was  the  first  to  introduce  the  kitchen 
garden.  Here  girls  are  taught  simple  ways  of 
preparing  food;  taught  how  to  set  the  table,  and 
how  to  serve  food  in  a  proper  manner.  The  idea 
of  this  sort  of  instruction  came  about  naturally 
when  it  was  found  that  the  children  did  most  of 
the  cooking  at  home.  Twenty-five  years  ago  a 
dozen  or  more  unruly  boys  in  the  neighborhood 
amused  themselves  during  the  afternoon  by  throw- 
ing missies  at  the  school  windows.  One  of  the 
teachers   induced   half   a   dozen   of   these   boys   to 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery 

come  into  the  school  to  demonstrate  that  a  plain, 
substantial  meal,  followed  by  a  few  games  that 
boys  like,  would  give  them  a  greater  respect  for 
it,  if  merely  as  a  place  where  they  could  get  some- 
thing for  nothing.  The  boys  enjoyed  it.  They 
came  again.  Out  of  these  pleasant  afternoons 
grew  the  big  ''Boys'  Club,"  now  located  in  a  splen- 
did building  on  the  next  corner  to  the  north. 

The  Boys'  Club,  occupying  the  corner  at  Avenue 
A  and  Tenth  Street,  is  said  to  be  the  largest  club 
of  its  kind,  as  well  as  the  best  equipped,  in  the 
world.  Eleven  thousand  members  are  enrolled  on 
its  books.  Starting  in  a  small  way,  it  grew  by  de- 
grees larger  and  larger,  until  now  it  occupies  a 
handsome  building  erected  exclusively  for  its  use. 
It  is  composed  of  thirty-two  small  clubs,  each  hav- 
ing a  college  man  for  leader,  and  these  combined 
clubs  form  the  organization.  A  unique  and  char- 
acteristic feature  is  the  fact  that  any  boy  can  walk 
in  off  the  street  to  the  great  room  on  the  ground 
floor,  remaining  as  long  as  he  likes,  playing  any 
game  he  likes,  and  leaving  when  he  likes.  As 
many  as  three  thousand  in  a  single  season  have 
used  this  universal  clubroom,  free  of  expense  and 
hindrance.  This  common  ground  is  the  recruiting 
point  for  the  club,  and  those  who  go  in  simply  as 
transient  guests  very  soon  become  regular  mem- 
bers. 

The  large  and  handsome  structure  of  the  Olivet 
Memorial  Church,  at  59  to  63  Second  Street,  is 
maintained  by  the  New  York  City  Mission  and 
Trict  Society.  A  distinctive*  feature  is  mothers* 
meetings,  among  which  are  some  especially  for 
German  women,  conducted  in  their  own  language. 

Opposite  this  Olivet  Church  is  a  cemetery  of 
old  New  York,  called  the  New  York  City  Marble 
Cemetery,  bought  in  1832  by  some  merchants  of 
the  city.  It  has  long  been  out  of  use,  but  looking 
through  the  high  iron  fence  that  separates  it  from 
the  street,  you  can  see  its  walks  and  graves  neatly 
kept.  There  were  buried  among  others,  Thomas 
Addis  Emmet,  the  great  jurist;  Robert  Lenox, 
and  President  James  Monroe,  whose  body  was 
afterward  taken  to  Virginia. 

57 


The  Better  New  York 

In  1854,  five  women,  who  desired  to  associate 
in  some  practical  form  of  benevolence,  decided  to 
make  an  effort  to  improve  the  condition  of  women 
prisoners,  prison  discipline  and  the  government  of 
prisons  for  women,  and  to  provide  support  and 
encouragement  for  ex-convicts  desirous  of  making 
a  fresh  start  in  life.  A  society  was  thus  formed, 
with  the  name  of  the  Women's  Prison  Association 
and  Home.  Good  food  and  sanitary  conditions 
in  a  cheerful  home  are  provided  for  forlorn  women 
just  out  of  prison,  and  they  are  trained  in  laun- 
dry, housework  and  sewing  till  fitted  for  some 
employment  in  the  outside  world.  Sixty-four 
county  jails  of  the  State^  six  penitentiaries,  three 
reformatories  for  women,  and  the  State  prison 
for  women  were  visited  last  year.  The  present 
quarters  of  the  Association  are  at  no  Second 
Avenue. 

The  New  York  City  Baptist  Mission  Society, 
at  162  Second  Avenue,  was  incorporated  in  1893 
to  further  the  efforts  of  the  Baptist  churches.  It 
aims  to  maintain  Christian  churches  in  the  poor 
and  congested  districts  and  amidst  the  foreign  pop- 
ulation; also  to  found  Sunday-schools  and  churches 
in  new  suburban  parts.  The  society  maintains  the 
First  Mariners'  Church,  at  Chatham  Square;  the 
Second  Avenue  Church,  at  Second  Avenue  and 
Tenth  Street,  and  the  Harlem  baptist  Church,  at 
123d  Street  and  Third  Avenue.  It  also  partly  sup- 
ports eight  other  churches.  Work  among  Hebrew 
children  is  also  carried  on  at  Mariners'  Temple. 
A  Settlement  House  has  been  provided  at  328 
East  125th  Street  in  connection  with  the  Harlem 
Church,  to  provide  a  home  center  for  young  people 
of  the  church  and  vicinity,  and  great  good  has  been 
done  by  its  Vacation  Bible  Schools.  These  schools 
were  developed  through  a  movement  begun  in 
1901  to  care  for  the  city  children  through  what 
are  two  of  the  worst  months  of  the  year  for  them 
— July  and  August.  They  are  held  in  various 
church  buildings,  and  supplement  the  work  done 
through  the  public  school,  vacation  schools,  and 
playgrounds  in  providing  some  place  of  resort 
other  than  the  heated  streets. 

S8 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery 

The  headquarters  of  the  Volunteers  of  America, 
organized  by  General  and  Mrs.  Ballington  Booth, 
in  1896,  are  at  38  Cooper  Square.  This  is  a  re- 
ligious body  with  military  organization  based  upon 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  A  distinct- 
ive phase  of  its  work  is  reclaiming  men  in  States 
prisons,  and  the  overseeing  of  their  welfare  after 
"serving  time."  Through  Mrs.  Booth's  efforts 
excellent  results  have  been  achieved.  Hope  Hall, 
under  her  management,  is  a  home  where  ex-pris- 
oners, awakened  to  a  desire  for  a  start  on  the  right 
road,  are  housed  and  cared  for  and  braced  in 
health  and  morals  till  fitting  employment  is  found. 

Where  Fourth  Avenue  and  the  Bowery  join  is 
another  historic  point  of  the  city.  Two  centuries 
and  a  half  ago,  when  Peter  Stuyvesant  governed 
in  New  York  (which  was  then  called  New  Am- 
sterdam), he  owned  a  farm  hereabout.  After  the 
city  was  captured  by  the  English,  Stuyvesant  came 
to  live  on  his  farm,  and  a  little  settlement  grew 
up,  to  which  was  given  the  name  of  the  Bouwerie 
Village.  In  this  Bouwerie  Village,  Stuyvesant 
died.     The  plain  brownstone  building  standing  just 

! 


Cooper 
Union. 


Pleasure  and  Profit  for  the  People  in  Cooper  Union. 

p  stone's  throw  from  these  meeting  streets  is 
Cooper  Union,  erected  by  the  Philanthropic  Peter 
Cooper  in  1857.  Here  was  once  his  store.  The  one 
leading  thought  of  his  life  was  how  best  to  give 
the  working  classes  opportunity  for  self-culture. 
The  brownstone  building  stands  as  the  fruition 
of  his  idea.  Free  schools  of  science  are  main- 
tained, schools  of  art,  reading-rooms  and  libraries. 
Day  schools  and  evening  schools  are  kept  up  at 
an  expense  of  $50,000  a  year,  from  the  income  of 
an  endowed  fund.  Year  after  year  thousands  of 
pupils  are  taught. 

The  small,  triangular  plot  in  front  of  Cooper 
Union  is  Cooper  Union  Park.  The  bronze  statue 
of  Peter  Cooper  in  this  park  was  unveiled  in  1897, 
having  been  paid  for  by  popular  subscription.  It 
is  the  work  of  Augustus  St.  Gaudens,  a  celebrated 
sculptor  now,  once  a  student  of  the  Union. 

On  a  triangular  block  to  tie  north  the  Bible 
House  has  stood  for  half  a  ce.itury.  The  stained 
glass  windows,  the  names  of  clergymen  inscribed 
on  office  doors,  fittingly  suggests  a  sanctuary,  as, 
in  the  uses  to  which  it  has  been  put,  the  building 
has  gone  hand  in  hand  with  church.  The  his- 
tory of  the  Bible  House  is  the  history  of  the  insti- 
tution  by   which  and    for   which   it   was   built — the 

60 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery 

American  Bible  Society.  The  society  was  organ- 
ized in  1816,  and,  after  being  housed  in  several 
places  downtown,  this  permanent  home  was 
erected  in  1852.  The  building,  which  today  wears 
a  commonplace  and  antiquated  look,  was  grand 
and  imposing  then,  and  was  looked  upon  as  being 
uptown.  During  the  three-quarters  of  a  century 
of  its  existence,  the  society  has  been  helping  to 
circulate  the  Bible  throughout  the  world.  It  has 
distributed  more  than  66,000,000  copies  in  240  dif- 
ferent languages  and  dialects.  Many  of  these 
millions  have  been  given  away  to  those  too  poor 
to  buy.  A  feature  of  the  society's  work  is  the 
printing  of  Bibles  suitable  for  the  blind. 

The  New  York  Bible  Society,  also  housed  here, 
is  an  auxiliary  of  the  American  Bible  Society  since 
1823,  having  for  its  especial  object  the  supplying 
of  Bibles  to  families  and  individual  immigrants  as 
they  arrive,  as  well  as  to  vessels,  institutions, 
hotels  and  city  missionary  societies. 

In  the  Bible  House  is  the  headquarters  of  the 
New  York  Sabbath  Committee,  which,  since  1857, 
has  been  seeking  to  unite  all  who  would  protect 
Sunday  rest,  whatever  may  be  their  religious  views. 
Its  members  believe  in  Sunday  as  sacred  to  re- 
ligion, considering  it  as  a  day  of  rest,  the  corner- 
stone of  public  morality  and  happiness. 

The  Ottendorfer  Branch  of  the  New  York  Pub- 
lic Library,  at  135  Second  Avenue,  was  built  by 
Oswald  Ottendorfer,  to  be  used  as  a  German  cir- 
culating library.  About  one-half  of  its  30,000 
books  are  in  German.  In  the  early  years  of  its 
existence  more  than  half  of  its  circulation  was 
among  the  Germans,  but  now  there  is  only  about 
one-quarter.  This  was  first  a  branch  of  the  New 
York  Free  Circulating  Library,  but  is  now  part 
of  the  public  library  system. 

Across  the  way  from  the  library  is  the  Second 
Avenue  Branch  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  formerly  known  as  the  German 
Branch,  org^anized  for  the  especial  benefit  of  Ger- 
man-speaking young  men  just  arrived  in  America. 
Gradually,  however,  it  was  found  that  there  were 
thousands  of  German-Americans  in  this  crowded 

61 


The  Better  New  York 

section  anxious  for  just  such  privileges;  so,  al- 
though it  lost  none  of  its  old  interest  in  German 
immigrants,  the  work  extended  and  broadened. 
A  distinctive  feature  is  thirty-one  furnished  rooms 
and  forty-one  beds  that  are  rented  to  young  men 
at  reasonable  prices. 

Where  Stuyvesant  Street  touches  Second  Avenue 
is  one  of  the  historic  churches  of  the  city,  old  St. 
Mark's.  Here  originally  stood  the  Church  in  the 
Bouwerie  Village,  founded  by  Peter  Stuyvesant. 
In  after  years,  when  the  British  had  captured 
New  York  from  the  Dutch,  Peter  Stuyvesant  came 
to  this  village  to  live,  and  his  house  was  just  north 
of  where  St.  Mark's  Church  stands  now.  When 
he  died  he  was  buried  in  one  of  the  vaults,  and 
a  memorial  to  his  memory  can  now  be  seen  in  the 
church  wall. 

Stuyvesant  died  in  1671,  and  the  old  church 
stood  almost  a  century  and  a  quarter  after  that. 
Then,  in  the  year  1791,  the  present  St.  Mark's 
Church  was  erected.  Two  governors  beside  Stuy- 
vesant were  buried  in  the  nearby  churchyard: 
Henry  Slaughter,  one  of  the  English  Colonial 
governors,  and  Daniel  Tompkins,  one  of  the  early 
governors  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

Across  the  street  from  this  old  church,  in  Sec- 
ond Avenue,  is  the  New  York  Historical  Society, 
which,  since  its  organization  in  1804,  has  been 
collecting  and  preserving  material  relating  to  the 
history  of  the  United  States  in  general  and  to  the 
State  of  New  York  in  particular.  Gradually  dur- 
ing the  passing  years  the  possessions  of  this  society 
have  grown,  until  now  they  are  of  great  wealth. 
Of  the  hundreds  of  features,  particular  ones  are  a 
gallery  of  almost  900  portraits,  a  rare  collection 
of  sculpture,  the  Bryan  gallery  of  old  masters, 
and  the  original  water  colors  prepared  by  Audubon 
for  his  natural  history. 

Around  another  corner  in  Stuyvesant  Street  is 
the  Hebrew  Technical  Institute,  a  free  trade  and 
technical  school  for  poor  Hebrew  boys.  The  ap- 
prentice system  in  this  country  being  almost  ex- 
tinct, the  vast  majority  of  workers,  especially  in 
the  metal  trades,  are  unable  to  handle  more  than 

62 


'Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  East  of  Bowery 

one  kind  of  tool  efficiently.  In  this  school,  after 
a  course  of  instruction  lasting  three  years,  stu- 
dents are  taught  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
handling  of  machine  tools.  In  order  not  to  waste 
the  boys'  time  by  putting  them  to  work  at  some- 
thing for  which  they  have  no  ability,  they  are  at  a 
very  early  age  instructed  for  two  years  in  sub- 
jects that  would  be  useful  to  them,  whatever  me- 
chanical pursuit  they  might  take  up  later,  and  by 
the  third  year  they  are  ready  to  follow  whatever 
is  their  bent. 

A  Training  School  for  Christian  Workers  is 
conducted  by  the  New  York  City  Mission  and 
Tract  Society  at  128  East  Tenth  Street.  This  work 
is  non-sectarian.  Not  only  is  there  thorough 
training  in  Bible  study,  but  practical  contact  with 
the  ignorant  and  superstitious  people  from  foreign 
countries  is  afforded  the  students  of  the  school. 
Some  of  the  best  missionaries  have  been  prepared 
through  this  study  for  work  in  the  far  South  and 
West. 

A  Christian  Workers'  Home,  in  Tenth  Street, 
just  opposite,  maintained  by  the  New  York  City 
Mission  and  Tract  Society,  is  occupied  by  the  mis- 
sionaries and  nurses  of  the  society  and  those  in 
the  training  school. 

In  Third  Avenue,  at  Eleventh  Street,  is  the  Chil- 
dren's Court,  where  all  children  arrested  for 
trifling  offenses  are  arraigned.  This  court  has 
only  been  in  existence  since  1902,  and  was  estab- 
lished by  law  only  after  much  discussion.  Here 
children  are  not  brought  into  contact  with  older 
criminals,  as  formerly  when  taken  to  the  police 
court,  mingling  there  with  the  most  degraded  men 
and  women.  Under  the  system  followed  in  this 
new  court,  the  home  environment  of  the  child 
arrested  is  investigated,  and  the  cause  of  its  crim- 
inal tendency  discovered,  if  there  is  a  cause.  A 
strong  effort  is  made  to  remove  any  such  crim- 
inal conditions  and  to  reform  the  child.  Some 
8,000  children  a  year  pass  through  this  court. 

An  oasis  in  the  hard  and  grinding  world  of 
poverty  is  to  be  found  at  225  East  Eleventh  Street. 

63 


The  Better  New  York 

There  are  poor  families,  usually  self-supporting, 
who  sometimes  need  to  be  lifted  over  hard  places 
and  to  whom  the  word  charity  has  an  unsympa- 
thetic sound.  All  such  may  safely  turn  to  the 
Howard  Mission,  which,  since  1861,  has  been 
searching  out  and  caring  for  just  such  families.  It 
assists  the  bread-winners  by  providing  clothes  and 
food,  and  aids  them  to  secure  employment;  it  saves 
the  children  from  degradation  by  providing  them 
with  educational  and  religous  training;  it  receives 
orphans  and  keeps  them  until  such  time  as  they 
are  adopted. 

At  the  Elizabeth  Home  for  Girls  of  the  ChiK 
dren's  Aid  Society,  307  East  Twelfth  Street,  part 
of  the  active  service  is  a  laundry,  where  the  girls 
are  taught  to  do  thorough  and  suitable  work  which 
will  fit  them  for  positions  in  households  or  in  pub- 
lic laundries.     Evening  classes  are  also  held. 

In  1820  there  was  founded  in  New  York  an  in- 
stitution which  sought  to  give  relief  to  such  of 
the  poor  as  were  sufferers  from  diseases  of  the 
eye.  During  the  first  years  of  its  existence  it 
treated  about  400  patients  annually.  Now  this 
same  institution,  the  New  York  Eye  and  Ear  In- 
firmary, grown  to  immense  proportions  and  hav- 
ing extended  the  scope  of  its  work,  occupies  the 
splendidly  equipped  hospital  building  at  Thirteenth 
Street  and  Second  Avenue,  where  they  treat  free 
of   charge   more   than   50,000   sufferers    each   year. 

In  the  Grace  Church  Settlement  building,  a 
three-story  structure,  long  and  low-lying,  at  411 
East  Thirteenth  Street,  are  held  various  boys'  and 
men's  clubs.  There  is  one  club  for  young  men 
over  eighteen,  a  large  organization  with  a  mem- 
bership of  about  200,  having  athletic,  military  and 
other  branches.  The  military  section  is  particu- 
larly active,  under  a  sergeant  from  Governor's 
Island.  Within  these  walls,  too,  are  housed  a 
woman's  section  of  the  Grace  Chapel  Gymnasium, 
which  meets  once  a  week;  classes  for  small  boys 
and  girls;  a  woman's  social  club;  a  girls'  friendly 
society,  and  various  other  guilds  and  activities. 
In  this  settlement  is  held  also  the  Industrial  school, 
with  its  many  departments. 

64 


The  Houses  of  Anna,  Simeon  and  the  Holy  Child. 


Grace  Chapel,  which  is  part  of  the  settlement, 
extends  through  to  Fourteenth  Street.  The  dis- 
pensary is  in  the  same  building,  where  a  clinic  is 
held,  and  to  those  patients  who  are  too  ill  to  go 
out,  a  physician  makes  visits. 

Next  to  the  chapel,  on  the  Fourteenth  Street 
side,  is  a  hospital  which  includes  a  home  for  old 
men,  old  women  and  little  children.  This  is  an 
old  use  of  the  word  hospital,  meaning  a  place  oi 
shelter  or  entertainment,  and  one  section  bears 
the  quaint  name  of  the  "Houses  of  Simeon  and 
Anna,"  where  a  new  and  keen  interest  has  been 
given  to  those  old  men  and  women  who  still  cling 
to  habits  of  industry,  through  rug-making  and 
other  activities. 

The  ''House  of  the  Holy  Child"  is  the  little 
children's  home,  and  the  work  of  the  nursery  there 
is  of  an  emergency  character,  and  well  fitted  to 
the  demands  made  upon  it. 

The  Grace  Mission  House  is  at  540  East  Thir- 
teenth Street,  where  something  of  the  settlement 
idea  prevails  in  the  fitting  up  in  a  homelike  way 
of   the   guild   room.      Here    a    cordial   welcome   is 

65 


The  Better  New  York 

given  to  young  visitors  every  Sunday  afternoon  by 
the  residents  of  the  house.  There  is  a  class  in 
kitchen-garden  training,  where  little  girls  from 
eight  to  twelve  years  are  taught  after  school  hours, 
and  where  mothers  and  friends  are  invited  to  see 
in  what  a  pleasant  way  useful  information  can  be 
given.  The  clothing  depository  sells  at  small  price 
all  garments,  new  or  old,  sent  by  well-to-do  parish- 
ioners for  the  purpose. 


How  Grace  Church  Does  It. 


66 


DIVISION  III. 
Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  West  of  the  Bowery. 

On  the  west  side^  beyond  Broadway  and  to  the 
north  of  Canal  Street,  there  is  an  Itahan  colony, 
where  the  houses  are  low  and  hanging  in  decay^  the 
streets  narrow  and  the  nihabitants  dirty.  Here  in 
this  district,  at  24  Sullivan  Street,  is  the  West  Side 
Italian  Industrial  School  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society.  Here  strong  effort  is  being  made  to 
catch  the  spirit  and  essence  of  the  Italian  charac- 
ter. The  children  are  taught  to  work  effectively 
in  the  strong  colors  that  they  love  so  well,  and 
to  take  old  bottles  and  buttons  and  pieces  of  bright 
glass,  making  of  them  imitations  of  ancient  Italian 
vases  and  urns. 

Close  by  where  Charlton  Street  crosses  Varick 
stood  the  home  of  Aaron  Burr.  It  was  an  historic 
house,  with  a  history  that  dated  back  to  the  year 
1760.  In  that  year  all  the  land  hereabouts  was 
primeval  forest,  miles  and  miles  above  where  the 
little  city  of  New  York  clustered  about  the  lower 
end  of  Manhattan  Island.  There  was  a  rise  of 
ground  here,  which  in  this  year  of  1760  was  pur- 
chased by  Abraham  Mortier,  commissary  of  the 
forces  of  George  III.  On  this  elevation  Mortier 
built  a  house  and  called  it,  as  well  as  the  land  about 
it,  Richmond  Hill.  Sixteen  years  later,  when  it 
had  come  to  be  the  year  1776,  George  Washington 
used  this  as  his  headquarters,  until  after  the  battle 
of  Long  Island,  when  the  British  took  possession 
of  the  city.  After  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  in 
the  year  1797,  Aaron  Burr  came  into  possession 
of  the  property,  lived  in  the  old  house,  entertained 
his  friends  in  a  most  bountiful  manner,  and  took 
great  pride  in  beautifying  the  grounds.  At  Spring 
Street,  just  west  of  MacDougal,  was  the  gateway 
that  gave  opening  into  the  gardens,  and  it  was 
through  this  that  Burr  walked  on  the  morning  of 
his  duel  with  Alexander  Hamilton. 

Within  a  few   steps   of  where   was   the   gateway 

67 


The  Better  New  York 

leading  to  the  Richmond  Hill  House  of  Aaron 
Burr,  there  is,  at  239  Spring  Street,  one  of  the 
branches  of  the  New  York  Kindergarten  Associa- 
tion, the  Frances  Dana  Walcott,  established  in  1892. 

Strangely  enough,  within  a  few  doors  of  this 
kindergarten  there  is  now  the  shop  of  a  manu- 
facturing jeweler,  whose  business  sign  in  the  win- 
dow attracts  immediate  attention  from  one  who 
knows  the  memories  that  hover  about  this  district, 
for  it  reads  ''Aaron  Burr,  Jeweler." 

In  Washington  Street,  at  Charlton,  is  another 
branch  of  the  New  York  Port  Society,  with  a  read- 
ing-room convenient  to  the  waterside  that  may  be 
enjoyed  by  the  men  of  the  sea. 

A  block  further  on  is  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Comforter,  nestling  by  the  waterside,  almost  lost  in 
a  rambling  group  of  buildings.  This  is  one  of  the 
houses  of  worship  maintained  by  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  Missionary  Society,  enjoying  the 
distinction  of  being  the  only  church  on  the  North 
River  front,  and  here  seamen  gather,  sometimes 
as  many  as  two  or  three  hundred  in  a  day,  often  as 
many  as  nine  nationalities  being  present  in  a  sin- 
gle evening. 

At  the  foot  of  Christopher  Street,  pointing  out 
into  the  Hudson  River,  surrounded  always  by 
great  steamers,  and  hemmed  in  on  every  side  by 
masses  of  shipping,  is  one  of  the  city's  recreation 
piers. 

Facing  the  Hudson  River  two  or  three  doors 
above  Tenth  Street,  and  close  by  the  docks  of  the 
important  steamship  lines,  is  a  house  unusual  in  its 
attractive  outward  appearance  in  this  neighbor- 
hood where  pleasing  externals  are  few.  This  is  a 
lighthouse  for  wandering  seamen,  and  the  main 
home  of  the  Seamen's  Christian  Association.  It 
is  a  library,  a  reading-room,  a  lodging  house,  an 
eating  place  and  a  house  of  worship  combined; 
where  in  the  course  of  a  year  40,000  or  more  sailor 
men  are  influenced  for  good.  The  work  extends 
beyond  the  building,  for  through  it  services  are 
held  on  ocean  steamers,  and  everything  is  done  to 
better  the  condition  of  the  men  of  the  sea. 

6R 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  West  of  Bowery 

Around  the  corner  from  this  home  of  the  sea- 
men is  the  site  of  the  old  State's  prison,  now  occu- 
pied by  a  brewery.  This  prison  was  built  in  1796 
and  remained  in  use  until  1828,  when  that  at  Sing 
Sing  began  to  be  used  instead.  This  early  State's 
prison  was  remarkable  for  the  fact  that  the  first 
system  of  prison  manufactures  was  organized  in  it. 
One  of  the  convicts  was  a  shoemaker,  and,  asking 
and  being  granted  the  use  of  his  tools,  he  grad- 
ually made  shoemakers  of  his  fellow  convicts,  until 
every  one  in  the  jail  was  employed,  to  the  profit  of 
the  State.  The  prison  was  at  the  edge  of  Green- 
wich village,  which  clustered  about  it,  and,  being 
several  miles  from  the  city,  a  line  of  coaches  plied 
to  and  fro  several  times  a  day.  The  village  was 
very  old,  older  indeed  than  the  city.  It  was  an 
Indian  village  in  1609  when  Henry  Hudson  first 
touched  the  Island  of  Manhattan,  the  first  white 
man  to  set  his  foot  upon  it. 

In  nearby  Morton  Street,  at  59,  a  few  doors 
above  Hudson,  is  the  Endeavor  Club  of  the  New 
York  Association  of  Working  Girls'  Societies. 

Looking  to  the  west,  the  journeyer  can  see  just 
ahead  of  him  a  tall  iron  fence,  and  through  the 
bars  catch  a  glimpse  of  waving  trees.  This  is  St. 
John's  Park,  which  occupies  the  Hudson  Street 
plot  between  Le  Roy  and  Clarkson  Streets.  Its 
well-kept  gravel  walks,  ornamental  rest-houses, 
playground  lawns  and  boys'  gymnasium  give  no 
hint  of  its  early  origin.  Only  a  few  years  ago  this 
was  a  graveyard,  where,  beneath  the  trees,  the 
tombstones  yellowed  and  crumbled  with  age.  In 
the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  it  was 
set  apart  as  the  burial  ground  of  St.  John's  Chapel 
of  Trinity  Church,  and  called  St.  John's  burying 
ground.  No  interments  were  made  there  after 
1850,  because  of  city  ordinances  preventing  them. 
In  1897,  after  much  discussion,  the  city  bought  the 
ground,  the  tombstones  were  buried,  and  the  spot 
was  transformed  into  one  of  the  city's  breathing 
places. 

A  walk  of  five  minutes  takes  you  into  Le  Roy 
Street,   where,    at    18,    is    a   modest-looking   build- 

69 


The  Better  New  York 

ing,   with  a  brass  plate   on  the   door  bearing  the 
apparently  cabalistic  letters: — 


D.  Y.  N.  T. 
HOME. 


This  is  the  headquarters  of  the  Doe  Ye  Nexte 
Thynge  Society.  This  association  was  started  in 
1887,  when  a  few  voluntary  workers  met  once  a 
week  and  arranged  to  give  sewing  to  poor  women. 
The  society  grew  until  it  was  decided  to  limit  the 
work  to  a  certain  district  and  come  in  closer  touch 
with  the  people  there. 

So  the  house  in  Le  Roy  Street  was  rented,  and 
is  now  maintained  as  a  settlement  house  in  this 
locality  where  there  are  many  poor  and  struggling 
families. 

In  King  Street,  at  38,  is  the  West  Side  home 
of  the  University  Settlement.  Ten  resident  work- 
ers make  it  their  home  and  devote  their  efforts  to 
the  Italian  and  Irish  population  of  this  lower  west 
side. 

At  Bleecker  Street  and  Sullivan  is  the  Mills 
Hotel  No.  I,  built  in  1897,  by  D.  O.  Mills,  who, 
being  deeply  interested  in  the  question  of  housing 
poor  men  in  large  cities,  sought  a  practical  way 
of  doing  good.  The  main  idea  was  to  give  the 
men  the  fullest  possible  equivalent  for  their  money. 
So  he  provided  the  funds  and  erected  this  hotel, 
which  has  not  only  been  a  means  of  good,  but  has 
been  a  paying  investment.  It  is  in  appearance  an 
elegant  hotel,  with  all  modern  conveniences  and 
improvements,  having  1,500  rooms,  rented  at  20 
cents  a  night,  or  $1.40  per  week.  The  meals  are 
from  ten  cents  upwards,  and  a  regular  dinner  is 
served  for  fifteen  cents. 

*  In  the  rear  of  the  Mills  Hotel  in  Bleecker  Street 
are  the  Mills  tenements,  at  183  to  185  Sullivan 
Street.  They  form  a  small  block  and  house  some 
forty  families.  The  tenements  are  models,  in  that 
they  offer  the  essential  equipments  to  comfortable 
living.     They  are  owned  by  Mr.  D.  O.  Mills,  and 

70 


A  Good  Bed  for  20  Cents  and  a  Square  Meal  for  15  Cents. 

pay  four  per  cent  on  the  money  invested,  showing 
that  this  class  of  property  offers  a  safe  investment 
for  capital. 

Directly  across  from  the  Mills  Hotel  a  large, 
square  house  on  the  corner  bears  a  sign  which  ex- 
tends the  length  of  its  front,  and  reads  "Industrial 
Christian  Alliance."  There  are  always,  in  a  great 
city,  men  who,  from  one  cause  or  another,  are 
homeless  and  friendless,  and  who,  through  misery 
and  misfortune,  feel  that  every  hand  is  against 
them,  and  have  had  the  love  of  God  driven  from 
their  hearts.  To  bring  this  class  of  men  to  feel 
that  there  is  good  in  the  world  is  the  mission  of 
the  Industrial  Christian  Alliance.  Realizing  that 
something  more  is  necessary  that  a  night's  lodg- 
ing and  an  occasional  meal,  or  an  exhortation  to 
do  what  is  right,  a  temporary  home  is  given  to  the 
homeless,  the  sick  are  cared  for,  and  their  needs 
supplied.  When  their  physical  well-being  is  cared 
for,  the  men  are  put  under  Christian  influences. 
Every  one  who  comes  to  be  benefited  is  given  the 
employment  for  which  he  is  best  qualified.  There 
is  a  department  where  brooms,  brushes  and  feather 


71 


Helping  Men  to  Help  Themselves  at  the  Christian  Alliance. 

dusters  are  made,  and  one  where  chairs  are  caned; 
there  is  a  carpenter  shop  and  a  tailor  shop.  Here 
a  man  is  given  the  employment  he  might  seek  for 
in  vain  elsewhere,  and  receives  aid  which  he  need 
not  look  upon  as  charity. 

Down  Bleecker  Street,  at  196,  is  one  of  the  kin- 
dergartens in  charge  of  the  New  York  Kindergar- 
ten Association,  known  as  "The  Lawyers'  Branch," 
established  in  1890,  and  supported  by  special  con- 
tributions from  New  York  lawyers. 

In  a  building  of  attractive  external  and  internal 
appearance,  at  219  Sullivan  Street,  is  the  Sullivan 
Street  Industrial  School  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society. 

Two  blocks  to  the  north  is  Washington  Square. 
More  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  in  1797,  when 
New  York  City  was  very  small,  a  piece  of  ground 
was  selected  miles  above  the  city  to  be  used  as  a 
pauper  graveyard.  It  was  so  used  for  several 
years,  until  there  came  to  be  a  strong  objection  to 
it  because  it  was  on  the  line  of  a  fashionable  drive 
through  the  upper  part  of  the  island.     So  it  was 

72 


Payment  in   Kind  at  the   Industrial   Christian  Alliance, 

removed  to  where  Bryant  Park  is  now.  The  old 
graveyard  remained  unused  and  forsaken,  a  barren 
place,  until  1827,  when  it  was  laid  out  as  a  little 
park  and  was  called  Washington  Square.  A  fea- 
ture of  the  park  is  the  seventy-foot  high  Wash- 
ington Arch  which  spans  the  main  driveway.  In 
1889  this  arch  was  erected  in  wood  in  connection 
with  the  Washington  Centennial  celebration.  De- 
signed by  Stanford  White,  it  was  so  much  admired 
that  it  was  afterwards  reconstructed  in  stone  at  a 
cost  of  $128,000,  paid  for  by  popular  contribution. 

Opposite  Washington  Square  is  the  Judson 
Memorial  Church  (Baptist),  which  has  all  the  de- 
partments of  a  well-equipped  institutional  church. 
A  distinctive  feature  is  an  apartment  house  of  a 
superior  sort  immediately  adjoining  the  church 
and  built  in  architectural  harmony  with  it.  The  in- 
come from  the  rent  of  this  house  is  about  $10,000 
a  year,  and  is  used  in  the  educational,  philanthropic 
and  missionary  work  of  the  church. 

In  the  next  block,  at  133  West  Fourth  Street, 
is  the  Washington  Square  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  beside  it  the  parish  house,  where  neat, 


73 


The  Better  New  York 

attractive  and  economical  lodgings  may  be  had  by 
Christian  young  men. 

At  26  Jones  Street  is  the  Greenwich  House, 
under  the  charge  of  the  Co-operative  Social  Settle- 
ment Society,  organized  in  1902,  and  working  on 
a  different  basis  from  that  ordinarily  adopted  by 
social  settlements.  It  believes  that  the  neighbor- 
hood about  a  settlement  should  be  represented  on 
the  board  of  managers,  and  also  believes  in  the  co- 
responsibility  of  residents,  workers  and  non-resi- 
dents. It  is  on  these  lines  that  the  Greenwich 
House  is  conducted. 

At   89  Christopher    Street   the   New   York    Diet 

Kitchen  Association      maintains      the      Hackley 

Kitchen  for    the    benefit    of    the    people    of    the 
district. 

.Thomas  Paine,  beloved  of  Americans  when  he 
furthered  the  cause  of  liberty  by  writing  "Com- 
mon Sense,"  but  detested  when  he  argued  against 
Christianity  in  'The  Age  of  Reason,"  died  in 
Greenwich  village.  The  country  lane  in  which  he 
lived  in  1809  has  now  become  Bleecker  Street,  and 
his  house  still  stands  four  doors  north  of  Grove 
Street,  a  tiny  two-story  building  with  a  slanting 
roof. 

Abingdon  Square,  the  open  space  at  the  junc- 
tion of  Hudson  Street  and  Eighth  Avenue,  where 
there  is  a  tiny  triangular  park  and  a  band-stand, 
has  a  history  that  harks  back  to  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  All  the  land  hereabouts  was 
the  estate  of  Sir  Peter  Warren,  given  to  him  by 
the  city  corporation  in  1745,  in  recognition  of  the 
value  of  his  services  when  he  led  the  fieet  against 
Louisburg.  Not  far  from  this  square  Sir  Peter 
built  a  house  which,  for  close  upon  a  century,  was 
the  most  imposing  structure  in  Greenwich  Village. 
Sir  Peter  had  three  daughters,  and  Charlotte,  the 
eldest,  married  Willoughby.  Earl  of  Abingdon. 
Upon  Sir  Peter's  death,  with  that  portion  of  the 
estate  which  went  to  this  daughter,  there  was  the 
open  space  where  two  countrv  roads  crossed.  In 
honor  of  the   Earl  it  was   called  Abingdon   Place, 

74 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  West  of  Bowery 

and  came  in  after  years  to  be  known  as  Abingdon 
Square.  Sir  Peter  Warren,  after  many  years  spent 
in  Greenwich  Village,  went  to  England,  where  he 
died,  and  where  he  was  buried  in  Westminster 
Abbey. 

At  10  Horatio  Street  is  one  of  the  kindergar- 
tens of  the  New  York  Kindergarten  Association, 
"The  Daisy  Memorial,"  established  in  1892. 

As  far  back  as  1857  the  artists  of  New  York 
City  determined  to  organize  a  society  which, 
through  mutual  aid,  would  benefit  the  families 
of  members  deceased,  and  also  help  any  one  who 
should  be  ill  or  disabled.  The  idea  was  suggested 
by  the  success  of  the  Ranney  Fund,  which  had 
been  started  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  the  widow 
and  children  of  William  Ranney,  an  American 
painter,  who  died  in  1857.  The  idea  developed 
into  the  Artists'  Fund  Society,  to  which  any  pro- 
fessional artist  of  good  standing,  and  under  sixty 
years  of  age,  is  eligible.  The  headquarters  of  the 
society  is  at  51  West  Tenth  Street,  which  is  still 
known  as  "The  Studio  Building,"  in  survival  of 
the  days  when  it  was  the  only  one  in  the  city. 
In  the  same  building  is  the  Artists'  Aid  Society, 
whose  members  consist  of  professional  artists  and 
amateurs  not  over  fifty  years  of  age,  a  social  and 
benevolent  organization.  A  free  bed  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Hospital,  which  is  controlled  by  the  soci- 
ety, is  frequently  of  service,  and  when  not  in  use 
by  its  own  members  has  been  put  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Artists'  Fund  Society. 

Opposite  the  little  square,  from  which  it  takes 
its  name,  at  251  West  Thirteenth  Street,  is  the 
Jackson  Square  Circulating  Branch  of  the  New 
York  Public  Library.  It  was  opened  in  1888,  with 
a  fully  equipped  building  specially  designed  for  the 
purpose,  the  gift  of  George  Vanderbilt.  It  circu- 
lates about  126,000  volumes  a  year,  and  its  cheerful 
reading-room  is  filled  day  and  evening  with  more 
than  a  hundred  readers.  An  interesting  feature 
to  be  noticed  upon  entering  the  main  library  is 
the  glass-covered  cases  against  the  wall,  where  are 
placed  clippings  from  the  illustrated  papers  of  the 

75 


Jackson 

Square 

Library. 


day,  depicting  subjects  which  are  interesting  to 
people  of  New  York  at  the  time.  This  is  done 
weekly  to  create  interest  in  current  events,  and 
after  looking  at  the  pictures  any  one  can  consult 
the  librarians  as  to  proper  reading  in  connection 
with  each  subject.  To  help  the  musically  inclined 
in  the  study  of  operas  presented  at  the  ^Nletropoli- 
tan  Opera  House  during  the  season,,  scores  are 
lent  for  a  period  of  three  days  each. 

The  People's  University  Extension  Society, 
which  has  its  headquarters  at  244  West  Fourteenth 
Street,  carries  on  a  traveling  educational  work,  in 
helping  people  to  educate  themselves.  This  is 
done  by  instruction  in  practical  and  industrial  sub- 
jects. During  the  year  hundreds  of  lectures  are 
given,  and  individual  advice  offered  to  tenement 
dwellers  on  hygienic  sanitation,  housekeeping, 
cooking,  sewing,  dressmaking,  care  of  children  and 
other  matters  vital  to  everyday  life.  It  co-oper- 
ates, too,  with  hundreds  of  small  local  societies 
that  are  striving  to  help  the  people  around  them, 
with  settlements,  missions,  churches  and  work 
among  the  poor,  telling  them  how  to  carry  on 
systematic  usefulness,  and  furnishing  them  free 
with  trained  teachers. 


76 


The   Needle,   the   Sewing-machine   and   the   Paste-pot. 

The  Manhattan  Trade  School  for  Girls,  at  233 
West  Fourteenth  Street,  not  yet  two  years  old,  has 
already  shown  excellent  results  in  training  young 
girls  in  the  trades  of  sewing  and  fancy  glue  work. 
Each  department  has  a  scientific  teacher,  who  is 
also  a  practical  forewoman,  with  factory  or  shop 
experience.  Plain  sewing  and  foot  machine  work 
is  first  taught  the  girls  in  the  sewing  department 
and  to  this  is  added,  later,  full  and  careful  train- 
ing in  the  use  of  machines  run  by  electricity.  In 
both  trades  the  aim  is  to  produce  not  only  the  best 
of  work,  but  also  the  best  type  of  working,  and  to 
train  the  mind  as  well  as  the  hand.  The  girls  must 
be  over  fourteen  and  not  over  seventeen,  and  as 
the  opportunities  the  school  offers  are  for  the 
benefit  of  the  poorest  girls  of  the  city,  scholarships 
have  been  provided  for  those  whose  families  can- 
not spare  the  small  pittance  which  the  girl  would 
earn  as  cash  girl,  or  as  an  inefhcient  worker  in  a 
shop  or  factory. 

The  Aletropolitan  Temple  at  Seventh  Avenue 
and  Fourteenth  Street,  often  called  the  Church 
of  the  People,  is  especially  attractive  because  of  a 


n 


The   Extension   of   Useful    Knowledge. 

vested  choir  of  loo  or  more  voices,  an  unusual 
feature  in  churches  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
denomination.  Several  clubs  for  young  men  and 
young  women,  a  literary  circle  and  King's  Daugh- 
ters and  Epworth  League  meetings  add  to  its 
interest  for  the  young  people,  while  a  kindergar- 
ten, sewing  school  and  classes  in  stenography  and 
millinery    are    among    its    educational    advantages. 

The  towering  structure  of  white  stone  in  Four- 
teenth Street,  close  by  Sixth  Avenue,  is  the  Na- 
tional Headquarters  of  the  Salvation  Army,  that 
practical  and  charitable  organization,  the  members 
of  which  devote  their  lives  to  the  spreading  of  the 
gospel  among  the  masses.  In  this  human  hive  are 
the  executive  of^ces  of  the  Army  in  America,  and 
the  many  departments  where  are  carried  out  those 
plans  for  reaching  the  unfortunate,  unhampered  by 
creed,  sex,  color  or  nationality.  Here  are  orig- 
inated the  nightly  street  services,  the  meetings  in 
halls  and  homes;  here  is  mapped  out  the  relief 
work  to  be  done  in  the  slum  districts  and  police 
courts,  and  here  are  devised  the  many  other  means 

78 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  West  of  Bowery 

of  practical  relief  which  give  hope  to  the  hopeless, 
employment  to  the  unemployed,  and  homes  to  the 
homeless. 

A  unique  feature  of  one  of  the  large  department 
stores  of  the  city  is  a  school  for  its  cash  girls, 
conducted  by  James  A.  Hearn  &  Son,  20  to  30 
West  Fourteenth  Street.  The  hours  of  the  school 
are  from  eight  to  ten  in  the  morning,  which  is 
counted  from  the  firm's  time,  and  every  induce- 
ment is  offered  to  join  the  classes.  Elementary 
studies  are  taught,  and  an  ignorant  child,  knowing 
scarcely  anything  of  practical  arithmetic,  is  in  this 
way  fully  prepared  for  a  position  as  high  as  that 
of  cashier. 

Where  Jefferson  Market  Prison  stands  now, 
with  the  square  tower  rising  above  it,  a  substan- 
tial monument  marking  the  boundary  where  old 
Greenwich  Village  began,  there  stood  for  forty 
years,  and  until  the  present  structure  was  erected, 
a  watch-tower.  In  this  tower  hung  a  bell  that  was 
used  to  sound  the  alarms,  calling  for  volunteers 
whenever  the  watchman  in  his  nest  beside  it  espied 
a  fire  in  the  distance.  When  the  present  building 
was  completed,  in  1876,  the  bell  was  set  in  the 
tower,  but  from  that  day  to  this  it  has  never  once 
been  rung.    There  it  hangs  now,  a  five-ton  weight, 


A   Portal 

of   Practical 

Uplift; 

the   Salvation 

Army. 


Where  the 

Watchman 

Announced 

Fires 

in   Greenwich 

Village. 


that  measures  eight  feet  from  tip  to  tip,  but  there 
are  few  persons  who  know  it  is  there. 

For  more  than  forty  years  the  rooms  of  the 
Working  Women's  Protective  Union,  now  at  9 
East  Eighth  Street,  have  been  a  place  of  friendly 
refuge,  where  any  story  of  wrong  and  fraud  prac- 
tised upon  defenseless  working  women  has  not 
only  received  sympathy  and  advice,  but  when  nec- 
essary, good  lawyers  have  been  furnished,  free  of 
expense,  for  the  purpose  of  righting  the  wrong 
and  redressing  the  fraud.  One  day  a  week  is  known 
as  ''complaint  day,"  and  the  legal  representative 
of  the  Union  receives  and  examines  the  complaints 
which  seem  to  warrant  prosecution,  though  full 
care  is  taken  not  to  enter  any  claim  which  seems 
to  be  unjust  to  the  employer.  An  employment 
bureau  gives  practical  aid  to  those  women  thrown 
out  of  work  through  the  injustice  or  dishonesty 
of  their  employer,  and  much  care  is  taken  to  place 
them  with  the  right  people. 

Many  an  expression  of  admiration  is  called  forth 
by  the  beautiful  flowers  used  to  decorate  banquet 
tables,  adorn  weddings  and  add  an  aesthetic  touch 
to    ballroom    and    drawing-room,    but    how    many 

80 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  West  of  Bowery 

give  a  thought  to  what  becomes  of  these  flowers? 
There  is  an  organization  called  the  National  Plant, 
Flower  and  Fruit  Guild,  with  headquarters  at  70 
Fifth  Avenue,  and  one  of  its  objects  is  to  collect 
these  flowers  and  distribute  them  to  hospitals  and 
poor  families.  This  is  only  a  small  part  of  the 
Guild  work,  for  it  furnishes  plants  and  seeds  for 
vacant-lot  farms,  and  for  window  boxes  in  tene- 
ment houses.  Then,  too,  it  distributes  seeds  and 
plants  to  increase  the  cultivation  of  flowers  in 
towns  and  villages,  and  does  all  manner  of  things 
to    encourage    study    and    appreciation    of    nature. 

At  49  West  Ninth  Street,  between  Fifth  and 
Sixth  Avenues,  is  a  house  of  attractive  appear- 
ance and  notable  for  its  inner  appointments.  It 
is  a  boarding  house  for  working  women,  main- 
tained by  the  Ladies'  Christian  Union.  There  are 
quite  a  large  number  of  these  boarding  houses, 
and,  as  a  rule,  they  have  more  applicants  than  they 
can  receive.  All  these  homes  are  under  definite 
religious  management,  and  the  greater  number  are 
Protestant,  although  there  are  one  or  two  Roman 
Catholic,  and  the  Clara  de  Hirsch  is  Hebrew.  To 
gain  admision  (the  conditions  are  for  the  most 
part  similar)  some  reference  as  to  responsibility 
is  required,  and  generally  the  small  w^age-earner  is 
given  the  flrst  preference,  though  school-teachers 
and  stenographers  earning  good  salaries  are  also 
to  be  found  in  them.  The  price  of  board  varies. 
Two  dollars  and  a  half  and  three  dollars  being 
the   lowest,   and   five   and   six  dollars   the   highest. 

One  of  the  "things  to  see"  is  John  La  Farge's 
painting,  "The  Ascension  of  Christ,"  in  the  Church 
of  the  Ascension  (Protestant  Episcopal),  at  Fifth 
Avenue  and  Tenth  Street,  occupying  a  space  above 
the  altar  forty  feet  square.  It  shows  a  number 
of  life-size  figures  arranged  in  ascending  vaults 
on  either  side  of  the  central  figure  of  Christ.  It  is 
considered  one  of  the  most  important  works  of  its 
kind  ever  done  in  the  United  States.  This  Church 
of  the  Ascension,  in  addition  to  ordinary  educa- 
tional and  institutional  church  methods,  arranges 
excursions  to  art  galleries,  factories  and  museums. 

81 


The  Church 
of  the 
Ascension. 


One  of  the  very  oldest  libraries  in  America  is 
the  New  York  Society  Library,  which  has  its  build- 
ing at  107  University  Place.  It  came  into  being 
in  the  year  1700,  when  the  Earl  of  Bellomont,  then 
Governor  of  New  York,  established  a  reading- 
room  in  the  city  hall,  which  was  then  in  Wall 
Street,  at  the  head  of  Broad.  The  outcome  of  this 
reading-room  was  a  regular  library,  incorporated 
in  1754,  and  called  the  City  Library.  George  IIL, 
in  1772,  granted  the  institution  a  charter,  and  it 
became  the  New  York  Society  Library.  It  has 
grown  larger  and  larger  with  the  passing  years, 
until  now  it  is  renowned  for  its  accumulated  litera- 
ture and  art  works. 

The  People's  Singing  Classes  afford  an  oppor- 
tunity for  every  man  over  eighteen,  and  every 
woman  over  sixteen  years  of  age,  to  learn  sight 
singing,  with  only  the  small  membership  dues  of 
ten  cents  paid  at  each  lesson,  and  with  music  and 
other  equipment  furnished  free.  The  fundamental 
principle  underlying  the  movement,  begun  in  1892, 
is  that  poor  and  rich  shall  have  equal  opportuni- 
ties in  acquiring  a  means  toward  making  life  better 
and  happier.  The  movement  is,  in  fact,  a  co-oper- 
ative  undertaking  between   teachers   of  music   and 

82 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  West  of  Bowery 

music-loving  people,  to  promote  the  love  and  cul- 
ture of  good  music  among  working  men  and 
women  in  a  simple,  yet  thorough  way.  No  exami- 
nation is  necessary  for  membership,  and  it  is  not 
required  to  know  a  single  note.  The  season  com- 
prises a  course  of  about  thirty  lesons,  which  be- 
gins in  October  and  lasts  until  April.  All  ex- 
penses are  paid  by  the  dues  of  the  members,  and 
no  outside  financial  help  is  asked.  The  services 
of  the  diretcors  and  teachers  are  given  free,  and 
Air.  Frank  Damrosch,  the  energizing  force  in  the 
whole  affair,  not  only  selects  the  teachers,  but 
keeps  them  in  personal  touch.  The  classes  are  held 
at  various  places  throughout  the  city,  and  the  head 
office  of  the  People's  Choral  Union  is  at  41  Uni- 
versity Place.  Elementary  classes  are  held  on 
Sunday  afternoons.  Other  classes  meet  on  dif- 
ferent evenings  of  the  week.  The  Choral  Union 
consists  of  members  who  have  graduated  from  the 
singing  classes,  and  now  comprises  over  1,000  well- 
trained  singers. 

Grace  Church  (Protestant  Episcopal),  at 
Eleventh  Street  and  Broadway,  has  its  practical 
activities  centered,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  sepa- 
rate buildings  of  Grace  House,  Grace  Chapel, 
Grace  Mission,  Grace  Memorial  House,  Grace 
Clergy  House,  Grace  Choristers'  House,  Grace 
Settlement  Building,  a  Parish  Laundry  and  a  Hos- 
pital. 

At  the  Grace  House,  which  adjoins  the  Church 
on  the  north,  is  the  Training  School  for  Deacon- 
esses, through  which  the  corps  of  assistants  make 
upwards  of  6,000  calls  a  year  in  neighborly  visits. 
In  this  building,  too,  is  the  Art  Students'  Club  of 
about  2,000  members.  Here  also  the  city  firemen 
and  their  friends  visit  one  evening  a  week,  under 
the  leadership  of  the  fire  chaplain  attached  to  the 
church.  This  chaplain  visits  in  the  course  of  the 
year  hundreds  of  fires,  to  be  on  hand  in  cases  of 
accidents,  and  to  minister  to  the  dying  or  injured. 
He  also  makes  hundreds  of  calls  at  hospitals  and 
firehouses. 

The  Chorister  School  and  Choristers'  House  of 
Grace  Church  forms  part  of  the  group  of  beautiful 

83 


'J^iJ 


1       ;'.*"■■ '  ' ' 


Where   Grace    Church    Looks    Out    on    Broadway. 

gray  stone  buildings  directly  back  of  Grace  Church, 
in  Fourth  Avenue,  which  includes  the  Clergy 
House,  Grace  Memorial  House,  Choir  Vestry  and 
the  Choristers'  House.  Besides  the  educational  ad- 
vantages of  the  school,  this  house  affords  a  proper 
home  and  good  care  and  food  for  boys  of  the  choir 
who  do  not  live  in  New  York. 

The  Memorial  House  is  the  home  of  the  Day 
Nursery,  where  working  women  leave  their  chil- 
dren while  at  work.  This  is  now  one  of  the  largest 
model  nurseries  of  the  city.  Kindergarten  instruc- 
tion has  also  been  developed,  and  afternoon  clubs 
for  graduate  nursery  children  who  have  gone  out 
into  the  world. 

Not  far  away,  at  i8  East  Eighth  Street,  close 
by  University  Place,  is  a  somewhat  exceptional 
feature  of  church  work — a  parish  laundry.  Some- 
thing like  150  women  are  employed  there  during 
the  year. 

The  lunch  wagon  standing  in  Astor  Place  is 
one  of  eight  of  a  similar  type  stationed  in  different 
parts  of  the  city.  Close  by  is  a  drinking  fountain 
of  ornamental  iron,  one  of  twelve  presented  to  the 

84 


Some  of 
Grace  Church 
Social  Centers. 


city  by  Mrs.  John  Jacob  Astor.  There  is  also  in 
the  square  a  bronze  statue  of  S.  S.  Cox,  which,  in 
1891,  was  erected  by  the  letter  carriers  of  the 
United  States  as  a  mark  of  recognition  of  his  in- 
terest in  their  welfare.  At  the  western  side  of  the 
square  is  Clinton  Hall,  the  home  of  the  Mercantile 
Library.  This  library  was  incorporated  in  1823, 
and  was  first  located  in  Nassau  Street,  but  after- 
wards, in  1830,  occupied  its  own  building  in  Beek- 
man  at  Nassau.  The  first  volumes  were 
given  to  the  library  by  Governor  DeWitt  Clinton, 
and  in  his  honor  the  building  was  called^  Clinton 
Hall.  When  a  new  one  was  erected  here  in  Astor 
Place  in  1850,  it  kept  the  name,  and  now  a  third 
building  of  the  name  stands  upon  the  site.  It  has 
well-equipped  reading  and  reference  rooms,  and 
contains  about  260,000  books,  which  it  circulates 
to  subscribers  at  five  dollars  a  year,  a  slight  reduc- 
tion, however,  being  made  to  clerks. 

More  than  one  hundred  years  ago  there  was  a 
pleasant  garden,  far  out  from  the  city,  on  the 
Bowery  Road.  It  was  owned  by  John  Sperry,  who 
cultivated  flowers  for  his  own  delectation,  and  it 
was  quite  a  country  show  place,  where  aesthetically 
inclined  townsmen  went  to  spend  summer  days. 
In  1799  Sperry  sold  his  garden  to  John  Jacob 
Astor,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 

85 


The  Better  New  York 

tury  it  was  leased  by  Astor  to  a  Frenchman  named 
Delacroix,  who  established  the  Vauxhall  Garden 
as  a  place  of  al  fresco  amusement,  that  was  popular 
for  close  upon  a  quarter  of  a  century.  In  tune  the 
city  grew,  and  the  Vauxhall  Garden  came  to  be 
part  of  it.  In  1826  a  street  was  cut  through,  called 
Lafayette  Place.  jMore  and  more  the  city  grew, 
and  the  confines  of  the  garden  were  more  and  more 
restricted.  Now  there  is  no  trace  of  it,  if  you  look 
for  it  where  it  once  was,  below  Astor  Place,  be- 
tween the  Bowery  and  Broadway.  In  1849,  when 
the  Astor  Library  was  incorporated,  according  to 
the  terms  of  John  Jacob  Astor's  will,  in  which  he 
left  $400,000  for  the  purpose,  a  portion  of  the 
old  Vauxhall  Garden  was  selected  as  a  site  for  the 
library  building.  There  on  the  east  side  of  La- 
fayette Place  it  was  built  in  1853,  and  there  the 
Astor  Library  still  stands.  In  the  early  years  of 
its  existence  it  contained  80,000  volumes,  but  soon 
it  became  overcrowded,  and  in  1859  William  B. 
Astor  built  the  north  wing.  Again,  in  1881,  an- 
other addition  was  set  up  by  John  Jacob  Astor. 
The  institution  had  grown  to  be  recognized  as  a 
general  reference  library  of  the  highest  order  by 
1895,  in  which  year  it  was  consolidated  with  the 
Lenox  and  Tilden  foundations,  and  became  part  of 
the  New  York  Public  Library. 

A  twenty-year-old  student,  Frederick  Ozanam, 
began  in  Paris,  1833,  the  foundation  of  the  great 
Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  of  which  the  New 
York  Superior  Council  has  today  its  headquarters 
at  No.  2  Lafayette  Place.  Ozanam's  work  was 
begun  through  "conferences"  with  earnest  col- 
leagues for  the  purpose  of  disproving  to  the  un- 
believers of  that  time  a  charge  made  by  them,  that 
Christianity  could  no  longer  originate  and  sustam 
a  great  movement  for  the  welfare  of  man.  How 
well  his  purpose  has  been  accomplished  is  now  a 
matter  of  history.  At  present  the  society  has  a 
world  membership  of  over  85,000  members,  which 
are  divided  into  some  5,000  conferences,  each  of 
which  reports  to  a  particular  Council,  which  again 
reports  to  a  Superior  Council.  The  society  in 
New  York  has  a  membership  of  more  than  11,000 

86 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  West  of  Bowery 

men,  each  pledged  to  active  interest  in  visiting  and 
relieving  the  sick  and  the  poor,  and  systematic 
performance  of  public  and  private  religous  duties. 

Bond  Street  Branch  of  the  New  York  Free  Cir- 
culating Library,  now  a  part  of  the  New  York 
Public  Library  system,  had  its  real  beginning  in 
1879,  ii^  ^  sewing  class  in  connection  with  the  char- 
itable work  of  Grace  Church.  The  class  was  a 
small  one,  and  as  the  girls  showed  an  inclination  to 
read  cheap  paper  novels,  one  of  the  teachers  pro- 
posed lending  to  each  a  book  a  week.  In  a  short 
time  other  women  became  interested.  About  500 
books  were  collected,  and  a  little  library  started  in 
a  room  in  Thirteenth  Street,  east  of  Fourth  Ave- 
nue. It  increased  with  wonderful  strides,  so  that 
at  the  end  of  the  first  year  about  1,200  books,  all 
gifts,  were  on  the  shelves.  The  conclusion  was 
reached  that  there  was  need  for  establishing  a  cir- 
culating library  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  and 
this  resulted  in  the  formation,  in  1880,  of  the  New 
York  Free  Circulating  Library.  In  March  of 
that  year  the  library  was  moved  to  two  rooms  at 
36  Bond  Street,  where  it  remained  until  1883,  when 
it  took  possession  of  the  entire  buiding  at  49  Bond 
Street  (the  present  Bond  Street  Branch).  From 
this  time  on  branches  were  formed  in  various  parts 
of  the  city,  until  the  library  was  merged  into  the 
Public  Library  system. 

Strong  and  decided  efforts  are  made  day  and 
night  for  the  reformation  of  fallen  women  and 
young  girls  at  the  Florence  Crittenden  Mission,  21 
Bleecker  Street.  Here  the  homeless  may  find  a 
home  and  every  incentive  toward  moral  and  edu- 
cational advancement. 

The  New  York  Protestant  Episcopal  City 
Mission  Society,  with  headquarters  at  38  Bleecker 
Street,  has,  since  1831,  been  ministering  to  the 
poor  and  unfortunate.  Some  of  its  most  efficient 
service  has  been  in  public  institutions.  Services 
are  held  by  the  society's  chaplain  in  nine  prisons, 
and  he  also  regularly  visits  the  prisoners  in  their 
cells.  A  chapel  in  the  new  Tombs  Prison  has  been 
set  apart  for  the  use  of   this  society.     Under  its 

87 


The  Better  New  York 

care  six  other  institutions  have  a  weekly  service, 
and  the  sick  of  ten  hospitals  and  several  homes  for 
convalescents  are  ministered  to  in  the  same  way. 
Work  has  also  been  begun  in  spiritual  care  for  the 
patients  in  the  smallpox  and  other  contagious 
wards  of  Riverside  Hospital  and  North  Brother's 
Island.  By  combining  the  offices  of  clergyman  and 
doctor  in  one,  on  the  medical  staff  of  the  institu- 
tion, both  soul  and  body  receive  attention. 

At  the  House  of  Refuge  on  Randall's  Island 
the  society  is  doing  effective  work.  Not  only  do 
the  boys  and  girls  receive  espe<:ial  attention  in  va- 
rious services,  Sunday-school  classes  and  personal 
visiting,  but  they  are  kept  track  of  two  years  after 
they  are  discharged,  and  in  many  cases  employ- 
ment is  found  for  them.  Wherever  the  new  home 
is  they  are  put  in  communication  with  the  local 
church,  and  as  far  as  possible  shielded  from  temp- 
tation. 

The  society  maintains  a  chapel  at  Bellevue  Hos- 
pital, adjoining  the  Almshouse  at  Blackwell's 
Island,  and  one  at  206  East  Ninety-fifth  Street; 
also  the  Church  of  San  Salvatore,  359-361  Broome 
Street,  with  its  adjoining  Parish  House  at  127 
Elizabeth  Street;  St.  Barnabas'  House,  304-306 
Mulberry  Street;  God's  Providence  House,  330- 
332  Broome  Street;  the  Pro-Cathedral,  130  Stan- 
ton Street,  and  the  North  River  Reading  Room, 
625  West  Forty-second  Street. 

Another  field,  not  long  opened,  has  been  work 
among  the  men  of  this  city  who  may  be  said  to 
have  no  Sunday,  such  as  trainmen  on  the  elevated 
roads.  To  reach  these,  one  of  the  clerical  staff'  of 
the  society  every  Sunday  rides  over  the  elevated 
roads,  leaving  the  day's  service  leaflet,  with  a  few 
kindly  words,  to  the  men  in  charge  of  the  stations 
and  trains. 

St.  Barnabas'  House,  at  304  ]\Iulberry  Street, 
gives  a  temporary  resting  place  to  women  who  are 
destitute  and  orphan  children.  Here  convales- 
cent women,  without  regard  to  color,  creed  or 
race,  who  are  discharged  from  hospitals  and 
friendless,  are  admitted  and  cared  for  until  they 
regain  full  strength.     There   is   also   a  dispensary 


Canal  to  Fourteenth  Street,  West  of  Bowery 

where  any  one  may  have  medical  advice  free  of 
charge.  The  house  is  maintained  by  the  New 
York  Protestant  Episcopal  City  Mission  Society. 
Connecting  with  this  home  is  also  a  Clothing 
Bureau,  the  customers  of  which  are  many  and 
interesting.  They  must  have  a  letter  of  reference 
or  a  card  from  a  city  clergyman  or  missionary, 
who  vouches  for  their  honesty  and  their  need. 
This  is  to  protect  the  bureau  from  second-hand 
clothes  dealers,  and  from  people  who  would  buy 
articles  in  order  to  pawn  them.  Not  only  half- 
worn  garments,  but  also  rugs,  pictures,  bits  of 
china,  a  misfit  perhaps  in  shoes,  a  fancy  costume 
worn  at  some  society  function,  and  bits  of  left- 
over lace,  carpet,  curtains,  pillows  and  linen  be- 
come of  inestimable  value  by  the  discriminating 
disposal  of  them  through  the  bureau.  Everything 
is  paid  for  by  the  customer  at  legitimate  valuation, 
and  the  money  realized  from  the  sales  goes  to 
help  the  work  of  St.  Barnabas'  House,  excepting 
one-tenth,  which  is  reserved  for  other  worthy  chari- 
ties. Besides  the  general  daily  sales  to  the  poorer 
class,  the  bureau  has  opened  its  office  for  an  hour 
on  Saturday  for  women  and  girls  who  are  refined 
in  their  taste  and  association,  but  whose  earnings 
are  too  small  to  procure  anything  more  than  life's 
necessities. 

The  Mott  Street  Industrial  School,  at  256  Mott 
Street,  is  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society. 

Broome  Street  Tabernacle,  at  395  Broome 
Street,  is  under  the  charge  of  the  New  York  City 
Mission  and  Tract  Society.  Besides  the  religious 
services,  the  sewing  school  is  very  popular,  and 
the  cooking  class  largely  attended.  Added  to  this 
is  a  Little  Housekeepers'  Class,  which  instructs 
the  children  how  and  what  to  buy  with  a  small 
amount  of  money,  and  some  of  the  fundamental 
rules  for  good  housekeeping. 

The  pioneer  bath  for  providing  hot  or  cold 
water  the  year  round  was  located  in  1891,  at  9 
Center  Market  Place,  near  Grand  Street.  The 
People's  Baths,  as  they  are  called,  have  been  main- 

09 


The  Better  New  York 

tained  by  the  New  York  Association  for  Improv- 
ing the  Condition  of  the  Poor.  They  are  open 
daily,  from  October  i  to  April  30,  from  6  A.M.  to 
9  P.M.,  except  on  Sundays,  when  the  hours  are 
6.30  to  9.30  A.M.  The  fee  for  soap  and  towels 
is  five  cents,  the  only  charge  made.  Many  of  the 
bathers  are  children  accompanied  by  their  mothers, 
and  most  effectual  educational  results  have  been 
obtained  by  these  family  visits.  Since  opening, 
upwards  of  a  million  and  a  quarter  bathers  have 
used  the  baths. 

The  Italian  immigrants  of  this  city  owe  a  debt 
of  gratitude  to  the  Italian  Free  Library,  149  Mul- 
berry Street,  which  was  provided  for  them  by 
Mrs.  Anson  Phelps  Stokes.  Some  3,000  volumes 
in  Italian  are  to  be  found  in  the  large  room  set 
apart  for  the  library  purposes,  and  the  reading- 
room  contains  daily  papers,  periodicals  and  illus- 
trated newspapers  of  Italy  and  America,  where 
250  readers,  men,  women  and  children,  are  to  be 
found  each  day  and  evening,  availing  themselves  of 
its  privileges.  Not  content,  however,  with  this 
phase  of  education,  young  Italian  girls  are  taught 
sewing,  and  various  children's  and  young  people's 
classes  and  clubs  are  under  the  care,  socially  and 
educationally,  of  a  headworker  and  fourteen  as- 
sistants. 

In  a  new  building,  which  stands  at  361  Broome 
Street,  in  the  midst  of  the  Italian  colony,  is  the 
Italian  Church  of  San  Salvatore,  under  the  charge 
of  the  New  York  Protestant  Episcopal  City  Mis- 
sion Society.  The  services  are  usually  in  Italian, 
with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  English  hymns, 
and  the  choir  is  composed  of  some  twenty-five 
young  men  and  boys  of  the  neighborhood.  An  ex- 
ceptional fact  to  be  noticed  in  the  congregations 
which  gather  in  this  church  is  that  the  number  of 
men  attending  is  much  larger  than  the  number 
of  women;  the  latter,  however,  make  up  in  pictur- 
esqueness  for  what  is  lacking  in  number.  The 
Parish  House  adjoins  the  rear  of  the  church,  127 
Elizabeth  Street.  Through  mutual  interest  and 
the  prompt  payment  of  dues,  a  small  sum  of 
money   weekly    and    medical    attendance    are   pro- 

90 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

vided  for  all  members  who  are  ill  and  unable  to 
work.  In  the  same  way,  funeral  expenses  are  also 
met.  For  the  lately  landed  Italians  unacquainted 
with  the  country,  the  employment  bureau  of  the 
church  has  been  of  great  service,  and  during  the 
summer  over  200  children  are  given  the  benefit  of 
country  air  and  food. 


DIVISION  IV. 


Fourteenth    to    Thirty-fourth    Street,    West    of    Fifth 
Avenue. 

Infirm  and  destitute  women  are  cared  for  by 
the  New  York  House  and  School  of  Industry,  at 
120  West  Sixteenth  Street.  They  are  given  em- 
ployment m  needlework  and  are  paid  for  their 
work,  which  is  sold  on  the  premises.  Since  1850 
the  effort  has  been  not  to  give  charity,  but  work. 

The  oldest  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  city  is 
the  New  York  Hospital,  incorporated  in  the  year 
1771,  when  George  III.  was  king.  It  is  a  gen- 
eral hospital  for  medical  and  surgical  treatment, 
where  both  free  and  paid  patients  are  received. 
There  is  also  a  training  school  for  nurses,  and  a 
branch  hospital  at  Hudson  and  Jay  Streets.  The 
celebrated  Bloomingdale  Asylum,  now  at  White 
Plains,  is  the  department  for  the  insane  connected 
with  this  hospital. 

A  religious  order  was  founded  in  New  York 
City,  in  1886,  by  a  few  women  who  felt  the  need 
of  arousing  and  bringing  nito  activity  many  idle 
and  unused  forces  in  womanhood.  Since  then  the 
organization  has  grown  into  what  is  now  known  as 


The  Better  New  York 

the  International  Order  of  the  King's  Daughters 
and  Sons,  with  members  of  all  ages,  in  many 
countries,  and  not  limited  to  any  special  religious 
denomination.  Its  original  circle,  composed  of  the 
founders  of  the  order,  with  some  additions,  is  now 
the  Central  Council,  or  executive  advisory  board, 
for  the  entire  order.  The  organizations  in  each 
State  are  presided  over  by  State  Secretaries.  In 
other  countries  the  work  is  organized  under  the 
head  of  a  national  department,  which  elects  its 
own  officers;  but  all  are  branches  of  the  Interna- 
tional Order,  and  in  direct  communication  with 
the  Central  Council.  One  of  the  cardinal  princi- 
ples of  the  order  is  actual  service  for  humanity, 
and  there  is  no  escape  from  the  obligation  to 
undertake  some  work  for  others,  for  which  no 
return  can  be  expected.  It  does  not  urge  the 
founding  of  new  institutions,  as  its  aim  is  to  train 
intelligent  workers  to  help  those  already  estab- 
lished; it  is,  in  fact,  an  educational  as  well  as 
a  religious  order,  and  within  its  ranks  are  to  be 
found  some   of  the   most   earnest  students   of  the 


Church  of  the  Holy  Communion. 


Church  of  the  Holy  Communion, 
highest    and   best    developed    systems    of   practical 
and    discriminating    relief.      The    headquarters    of 
the  New  York  Order  are  at  156  Fifth  Avenue. 

In  striving  to  promote  total  abstinence,  at  the 
same  time  carrying  on  a  missionary  work  that  en- 
circles the  world,  the  National  Temperance  So- 
ciety has  its  headquarters  in  West  Eighteenth 
Street,  at  No.  3. 

The  lunch  wagon  standing  at  West  Twenty- 
fourth  Street  and  Pennsylvania  Ferry  is  one  of 
eight  of  a  similar  kind  stationed  in  different  parts 
of  the  city. 

The  Church  of  the  Holy  Communion,  at  Sixth 
Avenue  and  Twentieth  Street,  was  built  in  1844, 
and  the  Rev.  W.  A.  Muhlenburg  was  its  first 
pastor.  It  was  then,  as  now,  a  house  of  prayer  for 
all  people,  absolutely  free  and  open;  supported  by 
the  voluntary  offerings  of  the  worshipers.  As 
this  church  was  established  in  the  days  of  the 
almost  universal  practise  of  rented  pews,  this  fea- 
ture of  free  sittings  made  it  unique.  The  boys  and 
men  who  led  the  singing  are  said  to  have  consti- 
tuted the  first  choir  in  America.  At  the  very 
beginning  this  church  did  work  among  the  poor 
of  the  neighborhood.     So  squalid  were  their  sur- 


93 


Church  of  the  Holy  Communion. 

foundings  the  sick  often  had  to  be  moved  to  the 
Sisters'  House,  built  in  1853  as  a  memorial,  and 
adjacent  to  the  church.  There  unknowingly  were 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  great  St.  Luke's  Hos- 
pital. 

One  of  the  outcomes,  also,  of  the  work  of  the 
Sisters  was  the  development  of  the  Day  Nursery. 
These  nurseries,  which  now  represent  one  of  the 
best  ways  of  helping  the  poor,  owe  their  origin  to 
the  necessity,  first  realized  in  1874,  o^  providing 
a  place  where  poor  women  could  leave  their  chil- 
dren too  young  for  school.  Such  a  nursery  the 
Sisters  provided. 

For  about  half  a  century  the  industrial  school 
of  this  church  has  been  in  existence.  Smiple 
methods  were  followed  at  first,  but  in  1889  there 
was  formed  a  sewing  school,  where  each  teacher 
was  expected  to  fit  herself  for  the  duties  which  her 
class  might  require  of  her.  One  new  course  of 
sewing  was  added  each  year.  So  great  was  the 
interest  excited  in  this  sewing  school  by  the  im- 
proved methods  that  the  New  York  Association 
of  Sewing  Schools  was  formed.  For  nearly  fifty 
years  the  parish  maintained  a  library,  which  con- 
sisted of  some  4,000  carefully  selected  books,  with 
reading-rooms,  but  in  1893  it  was  considered  wiser 


94 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

to  merge  this  in  the  New  York  Free  Circulating 
Library.  This  branch  has  become  the  Muhlen- 
burg  Branch,  so  named  in  honor  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Muhlenburg,  the  founder  of  the  parish. 

At  29  West  Twentieth  Street  is  the  Working- 
men's  Club  of  the  church.  Upon  the  death  of  a 
member,  as  many  dollars  as  there  are  members 
in  good  standing  are  paid  to  the  nearest  of  kin. 
Upon  the  death  of  members'  wives,  as  many  half- 
dollars  as  there  are  members  are  paid.  In  illness 
a  physician  is  provided. 

In  the  green  lawns  and  the  gray  buildings  of  the 
General  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  in  the  block  between  Twentieth 
and  Twenty-first  Streets  and  Ninth  and  Tenth 
Avenues,  there  is  still  some  suggestion  of  the  old 
Chelsea  Village.  The  plot  of  green  on  which  the 
buildings  stand  was  given  to  the  Seminary  by 
Clement  C.  Moore,  whose  estate  covered  a  large 
part  of  that  quarter  of  the  city.  The  corner  stone 
of  the  east  building  was  laid  in  1825,  and  that  of 
the  west  building,  which  still  stands,  in  1835.  The 
Seminary,  however,  had  been  planned  as  early 
as  1817,  and  two  years  afterwards  the  first  class, 
which  numbered  six  students,  received  its  first  in- 


In  the   Center  of   Chelsea  Village. 


The  Better  New  York 

struction.     Today  more  than  loo  young  men  are 
yearly   prepared   for   the   ministry   of   the   church. 

At  516  West  Twenty-eighth  Street,  under  the 
management  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society, 
is  a  woodyard  which  provides  work  for  men,  pay- 
ing for  it  in  meals  and  lodgings  or  in  cash.  Here 
also  are  workrooms  where  unskilled  women  are 
taught  sewing  and  housework,  being  paid  for  such 
labor  as  they  do,  in  clothing  or  groceries.  There 
is,  too,  a  laundry  where  work  is  given  tempo- 
rarily to  women  with  families.  Expert  laundresses 
may  also  register  at  the  employment  bureau. 

A  wonderful  system  of  providing  the  unem- 
ployed with  work  is  followed  by  the  Salvation 
Army  at  its  Industrial  Home,  528  West  Thirtieth 
Street.  Under  the  management  of  the  home,  from 
all  over  the  city,  are  brought  together  its  waste 
bottles,  rags,  paper,  crockery  and  furniture.  From 
this  debris  is  sorted  out  any  article  that  can  be 
made  of  service.  Furniture  is  repaired,  crockery 
mended,    rags    sewn;    in    fact,    every   possible   use 


Salvage  for  Men  and   Waste. 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

made  of  the  apparently  worthless  leavings  of  a 
great  city.  Sixty  men  are  given  work  in  this  way, 
and  through  definite  occupation,  wise  instruction 
and  oversight,  are  restored  to  self-respect  and 
made  ready  for  a  place  in  the  outside  world.  Pay- 
ment for  labor  is  generally  made  through  board 
and  lodgings,  but  sometimes  money  is  paid  out  in 
small  sums. 

In  Twenty-sixth  Street,  close  by  Eighth  Avenue, 
is  the  Hudson  Guild,  which  cares  for  the  needs  of 
the  people  of  that  neighborhood.  For  the  very 
young  children  there  is  a  kindergarten.  For  the 
older  children  there  are  clubs  of  all  kinds,  and 
for  the  boys,  a  back-yard  gymnasium.  Equal  ad- 
vantages are  afforded  older  men  and  women. 

Excellent  work  in  caring  for  the  welfare,  dur- 
ing the  evening,  of  very  young  girls  just  entering 
the  wage-earners'  life,  who  are  employed  as  cash, 
stock,  candy  and  factory  girls,  messengers  and 
helpers  to  dressmakers,  is  done  by  the  various 
branches  of  the  older  Working  Girls'  Clubs  and 
the  settlements.  A  pioneer  mover  in  this  matter 
was  the  Ivy  Club  of  the  New  York  Association 
of  Working  Girls'  Societies,  at  234  West  Twenty- 
sixth  Street.  This  club  has  had  a  junior  branch 
for  some  ten  years,  the  members  ranging  from 
fourteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age.  They  have  their 
own  rules  and  regulations,  but  a  member  of  the 
senior  club  is  in  charge.  Many  of  the  members  of 
this  club  are  cash  girls  who  pay  ten  cents  a  month 
for  the  privilege  of  membership.  They  meet  on 
Fridays  socially.  They  also  form  classes  for  in- 
struction in  domestic  science,  embroidery  and 
physical  culture,  for  which  they  pay  two  cents  an 
evening.  Plans  are  now  being  made  to  provide 
them  with  a  two-cent  supper  on  Friday  evenings, 
if  they  like  to  come  straight  from  the  stores  to  the 
club.  The  members  of  the  club  are  also  as  much 
as  possible  provided  with  holidays  in  the  summer 
time  through  the  Vacation  Society. 

Working  women  may  find  a  boarding  house 
conducted  on  Christian  lines  in  the  Jeanne  d'Arc 
Home,  at  251  West  Twenty-fourth  Street,  con- 
ducted exclusively  for  French  girls. 

97 


The  Better  New  York 


The  Pasteur  Institute,  maintained  by  the  New 
York  Bacteriological  Institute,  especially  for  the 
study  and  gratuitous  treatment  of  hydrophobia 
and  tuberculosis,  has  established  itself  at  313  West 
Twenty-third  Street.  The  treatment  is  similar  to 
that  used  in  Paris. 

The  high  structure  on  Twenty-third  Street, 
West  of  Seventh  Avenue,  is  the  chief  home  in 
New  York  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, that  institution  which  looks  to  giving  young 
men  health,  well-equipped  minds,  and  strong 
bodies,  and  to  surrounding  those  who  are  alone  in 
the  world  with  a  home  influence.  It  has  a  purpose 
so  wholesome,  its  workings  have  become  so  com- 
plete, and  its  helpers  so  earnest,  that  it  becomes 
more  pronouncedly  strong  year  by  year.  In  the 
cases  of  young  men  coming  from  foreign  coun- 
tries, they  are  met  on  their  arrival  and  given  in- 
formation as  to  the  new  land  of  their  adoption, 
which  they  could  only  obtain  otherwise  by  pos- 
sibly   dangerous    experience.      A    night    school    in- 

Where  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Helps  Body,  Mind  and  Soul. 

^  brf  IS  lia  I 


iImi 


•I  3i^l  ii  i 


School  of 
Applied  Design. 


'H'W 


jr 


structs  in  almost  every  branch  of  study  that  will  fit 
a  man  for  commercial  or  artistic  life.  A  gymna- 
sium and  competent  instructors  give  an  opportu- 
nity for  the  upbuilding  of  a  perfect  physical  condi- 
tion. In  daily  workingmen's  meetings  the  spirit- 
ual side  is  developed. 

At  Seventh  Avenue  and  Twenty-third  Street  is 
the  School  of  Applied  Design  for  Women,  which 
affords  instruction  enabling  them  to  earn  a  living 
by  the  employment  of  their  taste  and  dexterity 
in  making  designs  for  carpets,  wallpaper,  oil 
cloths,  silks,  chintzes,  furniture,  book  covers  and 
other  branches  involving  the  use  of  ornamental 
design. 

At  130  West  Twenty-third  Street  is  the  Muh- 
lenburg  Branch  of  the  New  York  Free  Circulating 
Library,  organized  in  1893  in  the  Parish  House 
of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Communion.  It  was 
named  for  the  Rev.  Dr.  Muhlenburg,  the  first 
rector  of  the  church. 


99 


•^^  r  1 


An  Isle 
of  Safety. 


The  latest  gift  to  New  York  from  the  Munici- 
pal Art  Societ}^  is  both  ornamental  and  practical 
— an  isle  of  safety  on  Fifth  Avenue  in  front  of 
the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel.  The  design,  by  Ciani, 
was  selected  from  competitive  plans.  It  is  an  en- 
during structure  in  stone  and  brass,  raised  to  the 
height  of  the  curb,  and  surmounted  by  a  hand- 
some electrolier.  This  gift  is  in  pursuit  of  the 
society's  policy  to  select  annually  some  one  thing, 
both  timely  and  practicable,  which  promises  the 
greatest  return  in  beauty  and  convenience  for  the 
least  outlay. 

Maintained  at  49  West  Twenty-fourth  Street 
is  the  French  Branch  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  organized  in  1889,  with  its  special 
feature  an  educational  department  for  teaching 
English  to  French-speaking  young  men,  thus  en- 
abling them  to  become  self-supporting. 

At  15  West  Twentv-fifth  Street,  just  west  of 
Broadway,  is  Trinity  Chapel,  one  of  the  chapels 
of  Trinity  Parish,  built  between  1851  and  1856  for 
the  accommodation  of  uptown  communicants  of 
Trinity  Parish.  It  is  a  Gothic  brownstone  building, 
the    interior   especially   noticeable    for   its   richness 


100 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

of  color.     It  has  a  home  for  aged  women,  clubs, 
guilds  and  relief  societies. 

The  New  York  Colored  Mission,  at  225  West 
Thirtieth  Street,  though  called  a  mission,  is  a  sort 
of  settlement.  An  employment  bureau  and  a  lodg- 
ing house  connected  with  it  are  so  well  managed 
that  they  help  pay  the  expenses  of  other  parts  of 
the  work,  such  as  physical  culture  classes,  domestic 
science  and  classes  in  dressmaking.  Boys  as  well 
as  girls  are  taught  cooking.  There  are  three  clubs 
for  boys,  one  on  each  floor  of  a  small  building  in 
the  rear,  and  between  the  front  and  the  rear  build- 
ing is  a  large  paved  playground.  The  main  build- 
ing of  the  mission  was  only  a  short  time  ago  a 
wretched  tenement,  and  the  boys'  club  a  humble 
annex. 

The  improvement  of  the  moral  and  spiritual 
condition  of  the  policemen  of  the  city  is  the  aim 
of  the  New  York  Christian  Police  Association, 
235  West  Thirtieth  Street.  This  was  established 
some  eleven  years  ago  as  a  branch  of  the  parent 
society  in  London^  and,  through  its  various  meet- 
ings and  the  personal  interest  of  its  staff,  has  done 
much  to  influence  in  the  right  direction  the  men 
of  the  force  who  come  to  its  rooms.  Much  help 
is  given  through  the  co-operation  of  the  morally 
strong  policemen  themselves,  who  try  to  interest 
their  fellow  workers  in  the  Association,  and  also 
by  their  personal  example  in  helping  the  younger 
and  untried  men  to  ''keep  straight." 

At  Thirty-fourth  Street  and  Ninth  Avenue  is 
the  New  York  Institute  for  the  Blind,  where  blind 
children  are  received.  The  institute  was  incor- 
porated in  1831,  and  opened  at  47  Mercer  Street 
in  1832  with  three  pupils,  removing  to  its  present 
site  in  1833.  It  now  has  an  average  of  200  pupils 
yearly. 

Pleasantly  situated  at  361  West  Thirty-fourth 
Street  is  the  Irene  Club,  for  women.  It  is  the 
pioneer  club  of  the  New  York  Association  of 
Working  Girls'  Societies,  the  largest  of  its  kind 
in  New  York,  having  between  300  and  400  mem- 
bers.     It    has    grown    to    its    present    proportions 

lOI 


The  Better  New  York 

since  1884,  when  it  was  begun  in  a  small  room  of 
a  tenement  house.  One  evening  the  members 
invited  Miss  Grace  Dodge  to  talk  matters  over 
with  them.  The  result  was  the  formation  of  this 
association  of  working  girls'  societies,  which  came 
into  existence  the  next  year.  There  are  now  in 
New  York  twenty  clubs  besides  those  outside  the 
city.  These  club  members  are  busy  women  and 
girls,  who  secure  by  co-operation  means  of  self-im- 
provement, opportunities  for  social  intercourse 
and  the  development  of  the  higher  life.  All  their 
club-rooms  are  pleasant  places  for  social  enjoy- 
ment, and  connected  with  each  there  are  classes. 
Each  of  these  clubs  strives  to  be  self-supporting. 
Government  is  by  the  members,  and  each  club  is  a 
co-operative  rather  than  a  philanthropic  organiza- 
tion. 

Up  to  1883,  when  the  Working  Girls'  Vacation 
Society  was  formed,  much  fresh-air  work  had  been 
done  for  little  children  and  mothers,  but  nothing 
for  working  girls.  The  society  is  unsectarian,  and 
its  purpose  is  to  give  a  fortnight's  rest  in  the  coun- 
try to  any  needy  and  overworked  girl,  which  facts 
must  be  vouched  for  by  proper  authorities.  The 
headquarters  of  the  society  are  at  361  West  Thirty- 
fourth  Street. 

The  large  department  store  of  R.  H.  Macy  & 
Co.,  Thirty-fourth  Street  and  Broadway,  furnishes 
an  example  in  several  ways  of  what  has  been  done 
in  some  of  the  best  retail  stores  of  the  city  to 
promote  the  comfort  of  the  employees.  A  large 
recreation  room,  furnished  with  lounges  and  easy 
chairs,  is  open  through  the  day,  and  adjoining  this 
is  a  room  for  those  taken  ill  during  business  hours, 
equipped  with  essentials,  such  as  beds,  lounges  and 
rocking  chairs,  to  afiford  a  quiet  and  comfortable 
retreat.  Lavatory  and  baths  are  also  provided. 
The  employees'  lunch-room  is  60  by  200  feet,  clean 
and  well  ventilated,  where  good,  wholesome  food 
is  furnished;  a  sandwich,  four  cents;  ice  cream, 
three  cents;  with  correspondingly  small  prices 
throughout  the  bill  of  fare.  Cash  girls,  stock  girls 
and  parcel  wrappers  are  furnished  with  a  bowl  of 

102 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

tea  or  coffee,  or  a  glass  of  milk,  free,  but  other  em- 
ployees pay  one  cent  for  each. 

That  triangular  bit  of  green  surrounded  by  the 
tall  iron  fence  below  where  Sixth  Avenue  and 
Broadway  cross  at  Thirty-third  Street  is  Greeley 
Square,  so  named  in  1894,  when  the  bronze  statue 
of  Horace  Greeley  was  placed  there.  This  statue 
was  executed  by  Alexander  Doyle  for  a  post  of 
the  G.  A.  R.  At  the  southern  end  of  the  square 
is  a  substantial  iron  fountain  arranged  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  man  and  beast.  On  one  side  of  it 
is  an  inscription  "erected  by  the  friends  of  Jerry 
McAuley,"  a  constant  reminder  of  the  man  who 
did  so  much  in  New  York  for  the  poor  and  the 
homeless. 

One  block  further  up  Broadway  is  another  small 
triangular  space.  Herald  Square.  Here  is  a  statue 
of  William  Earl  Dodge,  which  in  1885  was  set  there 
by  the  merchants  of  the  city  in  memory  of  a  fellow 
merchant  and  a  benefactor.  Beside  this  square 
there  stands  a  lunch  wagon,  one  of  eight  of  a  sim- 
ilar kind  stationed  in  different  parts  of  the  city. 

The  private  home  for  working  girls  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  at  117  and  119  West 
Thirty-second  Street,  today  marking  a  great  revo- 
lution, has  been  well  named  the  House  of  the 
Transfiguration.  Under  the  care  of  the  Francis- 
can Sisters,  this  place,  once  known  as  the  House  of 
All  Nations,  with  its  Turkish^  Egyptian,  Russian, 
French  and  Chinese  rooms,  filled  with  gorgeous 
furnishings,  the  home  of  splendor  and  vice  for 
fifteen  years,  has  indeed  been  transfigured,  and 
now,  leased  to  these  Sisters,  it  has  become,  under 
their  Christian  care,  a  safe,  pleasant  and  cheap 
home  for  working  girls. 


103 


DIVISION  V. 

Fourteenth    to    Thirty-fourth    Street,    East    of    Fifth 
Avenue. 

The  lives  of  working  girls  and  boys  are  made 
happier  and  brighter  by  the  mental  training  sup- 
plied at  the  Cooper  Settlement,  269  Avenue  C. 
Here  clubs  and  classes  of  all  sorts  have  been  in 
operation  since  1889.  A  characteristic  depart- 
ment is  a  shoe  bank,  where  money  is  deposited  in 
the  smallest  instalments  and  set  aside  to  buy  the 
necessary  shoes  for  such  children  as  cannot  obtain 
them  in  any  other  way.  The  settlement  is  sup- 
ported by  the  provisions  of  the  will  of  Miss  Julia 
Cooper. 

A  block  toward  the  east  and  at  the  waterside 
stand  the  substantial  buildings  of  the  Willard 
Parker  Hospital,  one  of  the  institutions  of  the  De- 
partment of  Health,  a  reception  hospital  for  all 
persons  ill  with  contagious  diseases,  and  contain- 
ing isolation  wards  for  the  observation  of  doubt- 
ful cases.  Here  also  are  a  diphtheria  hospital; 
the  main  disinfecting  station  of  the  health  depart- 
ment; the  research  laboratory_,  vaccine  laboratory, 
and  the   bubonic  plague  laboratory. 

The  lot  of  cripples  always  seems  pathetic — shut 
out  from  the  activities  of  everyday  life.  There  is 
one  place  in  New  York  where  not  only  is  every- 
thing done  to  brighten  these  children's  lives  in  the 
way  of  recreation  and  amusement,  but  a  strong 
effort  is  made  to  have  them  feel  that  they  are 
workers,  by  enrolling  them  in  classes  where  indus- 
trial work  of  an  elementary  sort  is  carried  on.  A 
warm  luncheon  is  daily  prepared  for  them,  and 
they  arc  brought  from  their  homes  and  taken  back 
in  the  evening  in  two  specially  built  wagonettes. 
During  the  summer  months  they  are  given  outings 

104 


Cripples  Going  to  School. 


at  a  summer  home.  All  this  is  done  for  them  by 
the  Children's  Aid  Society  at  the  Avenue  B  Indus- 
trial School,  533  East  Sixteenth  Street. 

At  505  East  Sixteenth  Street  is  the  Evening 
Trade  School  of  St.  George's  Parish,  where  expert 
instructors  in  manual  training  of  various  kinds 
look  after  the  shaping  of  the  lives  of  the  youth  of 
the  parish. 

In  one  of  the  old  mansions  of  the  city,  the  Sal- 
vation Army  has  opened  wide  the  doors  for  fallen 
girls.  To  its  shelter  may  come  all  in  dire  neces- 
sity, and  within  its  walls  is  heard  the  first  cry  of 
many  a  helpless  baby.  The  mother  and  child  are 
cared  for,  and,  of  the  number  coming  to  the  house, 
eighty-five  per  cent,  by  practical  Christian  aid  and 
sympathy,  have  been  set  on  the  right  road.  When 
strong  enough  to  work,  a  laundry,  which  is  oper- 
ated in  the  house,  gives  occupation  till  some  more 
permanent  form  of  employment  is  found.  In  most 
cases  the  mother  is  placed  in  a  household  where 
she  can  have  her  child  with  her,  and,  through  do- 
mestic service,  earn  an  independent  living.  But 
the  welfare  of  both  is  still  a  matter  of  care  to  the 
Rescue  Home  management,  and  if  ever  in  need  of 
advice  or  in  ill-health,  they  may  return  to  the 
home.  Forty  women  at  a  time,  beside  the  children, 
are  provided  for  here,  at  316  East  Fifteenth  Street. 

105 


The  Better  New  York 

In  a  fine  old  house,  a  mansion  of  earlier  days, 
with  two  great  stone  lions  before  the  door,  the 
Little  Mothers'  Aid  Association  has  its  home  at 
236  Second  Avenue,  close  by  Fifteenth  Street. 
Here  a  strong  and  constant  effort  is'  made  to 
brighten  the  life  of  the  child  of  the  tenement,  who, 
without  thought  of  wage,  labors  all  day  long  and 
sometimes  half  the  night,  the  nurse  and  family 
drudge,  doing  in  her  own  home  what  her  mother 
-does  in  the  homes  of  others.  The  association 
seeks  to  teach  these  little  mothers  to  do  what  they 
have  to  do  with  the  least  possible  labor  and  in  the 
best  possible  manner.  They  are  sometimes  not 
more  than  six  or  seven  years  old,  and  while  their 
mothers  go  out  to  work  they  scrub  floors,  wash, 
iron  and  take  care  of  their  younger  brothers  and 
sisters.  The  association  is  housed  in  the  old  Canda 
mansion,  and  classes  are  carried  on  both  day  and 
evening.  There  is  also  a  day  nursery,  where  the 
little  mother  may  leave  her  young  charge.  It  has 
a  branch  at  22  West  Street,  also  a  summer  home 
at  Hunter's  Island,  Pelham  Bay,  L.  I.,  where  ex- 
cursions are  made  every  day  during  the  summer. 

Close  by  St.  George's  Church,  in  East  Sixteenth 
Street,  is  the  five-story  Memorial  House,  the  seat 
of  the  institutional  work  of  the  parish,  the  distinc- 
tive feature  of  which  is  the  trade  school.  It  has 
an  exceptionally  thorough  industrial  trade  school, 
which  gives  a  three-years'  course  in  carpentry, 
drawing,  printing,  plumbing  and  manual  train- 
ing. The  church  maintains  a  cottage  by  the  sea  at 
Rockaway  Park,  L.  I.,  and  makes  a  special  feature 
of  running  a  car  there  each  morning  of  the  week 
during  summer  and  back  again  in  the  evening. 
The  importance  of  this  feature  will  be  realized 
when  it  is  understood  that  more  than  half  of  the 
people  connected  with  this  church  live  in  tenement 
houses.  Sewing  schools  and  kindergarten  classes 
receive  every  attention,  and  little  children  are 
taught  housework  through  kitchen-garden  methods 
and  tiny  utensils.  There  is  a  church  periodical 
club,  which  has  formed  the  model  for  many  other 
churches,  whose  mission  is  to  remail  all  over  the 
land  any  periodicals  which  members  or  friends 
send  to  the  clergy  for  that  purpose. 

106 


St.    George's 
Parish   House. 


St.  George's  parish  has  sixty-four  district  visitors 
whose  duty  it  is  to  help  and  encourage  the  mental 
and  moral  welfare  of  the  families  in  their  districts. 
The  Chinese  Sunday-school  accomplishes  educa- 
tional good,  as  well  as  right  training,  among  the 
Chinese  who  come  to  the  parish  building  every 
Sunday  afternoon.  Beside  all  this,  the  parish  has 
various  working  centers  in  other  parts  of  the  city, 
and  something  of  the  amount  of  work  it  handles 
can  be  realized  by  the  sum  expended,  which  is  over 
$100,000  annually. 

In  this  same  parish  building  there  has  been 
established  a  branch  of  the  Girls'  Friendly  Society 
in  America.  There  are  other  branches  in  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Churches  of  the  city,  but  this  one 
is  the  largest.  The  society,  founded  in  England 
in  1875,  extends  now  throughout  the  world,  the 
largest  society  of  girls  and  women  in  existence, 
numbering  about  300,000.  The  first  branch  was 
established  in  New  York  in  1877.  Throughout 
the  whole  society  a  large  amount  of  educational 
work  is  accomplished,  industrial,  domestic  and 
literary,  as  well  as  church  and  missionary  work. 
Lectures  covering  every  variety  of  subject  are 
features,  and  young  girls,  weary  and  worn  with 
drudgery  of  factory  or  shop,  find  quite  another  life 
in  the  recreative  side  of  this  society.  Members 
are  commended  from  one  branch  to  another  all 
over  the  world.  As  a  practical  example  of  the 
usefulness  of  the  work  carried  on,  it  is  on  record 
that  an  English  girl,  who  had  no  knowledge  of  the 
world,  made  the  journey  from  her  home  to  Ohio, 
by  way  of  Liverpool,  Montreal  and  New  York, 
with    ninepence    in    her    pocket    and    without    the 

107 


The  Better  New  York 

slightest  misadventure,  through  the  branches  of 
the  society  in  each  place,  which  took  her  in  charge. 

Around  the  nearest  corner,  at  235  East  Four- 
teenth Street,  is  the  St.  Elizabeth's  Industrial 
School,  which  receives  and  cares  for  destitute  fe- 
male children  and  teaches  them  useful  trades.  It 
also  maintains  a  home  for  girls  who  are  deaf 
mutes  over  sixteen  years  of  age.  It  has  been  in 
operation  since  1885. 

Much  philanthropic  and  educational  work  is 
accomplished  under  the  management  of  the 
Friends'  Society,  whose  meeting  house  is  at  East 
Fifteenth  Street,  corner  of  Rutherford  Place.  An 
employment  society,  a  mission  school,  a  free  kin- 
dergarten, a  temperance  union  and  a  philanthropic 
labor  committee,  do  excellent  service  among  the 
needy  poor,  while  the  Friends'  Seminary  afifords 
an  exceptional  school,  planned  on  the  best  modern 
methods,  at  reasonable  rates,  as  there  are  no  extra 
charges  for  lessons  in  any  branch  taught  in  the 
school.  Self-reliance,  self-control  and  regard  for 
the  rights  of  others  are  the  ends  to  which  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  school  is  directed. 

The  City  Tavern,  which,  in  1798,  occupied  a 
position  a  little  north  of  Trinity  Church,  on  Broad- 
way, was,  in  that  year,  the  meeting-place  of  earnest 
citizens  interested  in  establishing  the  first  Mater- 
nity Hospital  on  the  Island  of  Manhattan,  one  of 
the  city's  oldest  charities.  The  name,  Society  of 
the  Lying-in  Hospital  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
was  adopted,  and  the  constitution  provided  that 
pupils  should  be  admitted  by  election  for  the  pur- 
pose of  receiving  instruction  in  the  art  of  mid- 
wifery. So  a  century  ago  the  founders  of  this 
society  realized  the  importance  of  providing  a 
course  of  obstetrics,  which  today  has  become  sucli 
a  specialized  science.  From  that  time  the  society 
has  carried  on  its  work  of  giving  proper  medical 
treatment  to  poor  women  free  of  charge.  Now  it 
has  on  Second  Avenue,  at  Seventeenth  and  Eight- 
eenth Streets,  the  finest  hospital  ever  erected  in 
this  country,  thoroughly  constructed  and  magnifi- 
cently equipped.  When  it  is  considered  that 
among  the  600^000  aliens   annually   landed   at  this 

108 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

port  many  of  the  women  are  entirely  dependent 
on  charity  for  proper  medical  attendance,  it  can 
be  easily  understood  what  a  demand  there  is  for 
the  service  of  this  wonderful  institution,  whose 
care  for  its  patients  does  not  confine  itself  merely 
within  its  walls,  but  extends  to  their  homes,  where 
food,  clothing  and  the  services  of  a  caretaker  are 
provided. 

The  New  York  Skin  and  Cancer  Hospital,  at 
Second  Avenue  and  Nineteenth  Street,  is  the  only 
institution  of  its  kind  in  the  city  devoted  exclusively 
to  skin  diseases  and  cancer,  and  has  associated 
with  it  the  highest  specialized  skill.  The  feature 
of  the  hospital  is  its  outdoor  patient  department, 
which  cares  for  a  large  proportion  of  the  cases, 
as  many  of  the  patients  with  these  diseases  need 
not  of  necessity  be  in  the  hospital.  The  institu- 
tion has  been  in  existence  for  something  more  than 
twenty  years. 

On  the  next  corner  is  the  New  York  Post- 
Graduate  Medical  School  and  Hospital,  which  of- 
fers systematic  courses  in  clinical  instruction  to 
graduates  in  medicine.  Physicians  from  all  over 
the  country  are,  through  the  experience  acquired, 
made  much  better  able  to  do  their  work  at  home, 
as  the  attending  physicians  and  surgeons  are  all  of 
them  specialists  who  are  able  to  present  the  latest 
advances  for  the  benefit  of  sufferers.  Something 
more  than  650  doctors  attend  the  courses  during 
a  year,  and  the  number  of  patients  in  the  insti- 
tution is  over  200.  There  is  also  attached  to  the 
hospital,  in  a  separate  building,  the  Margaret 
Fahnestock  Training  School  for  Nurses,  which  has 
usually  about  75  pupils. 

A  building  especially  built  and  equipped,  at  216 
East  Twentieth  Street,  is  occupied  by  the  "Way- 
side," one  of  the  model  day-nurseries  of  the  city. 
The  work  of  this  nursery  was  begun  about  eight- 
een years  ago  in  two  rooms,  and  the  number  of 
children  cared  for,  increasing  year  by  year,  the 
quarters  were  enlarged,  until  now  it  occupies  this 
magnificent  building.  An  established  feature  here 
is  the  roof  garden  nursery,  where  there  are  awn- 

109 


The  Better  New  York 

ings,  hanging  swings,  sand  gardens,  boxes  of  earth 
for  plants  and  seeds.  Mothers'  meetings  are  held 
once  a  month,  when  a  doctor  gives  simple  and 
interesting  talks  on  hygiene,  on  the  care  of  the 
home  in  general,  and  the  care  of  children  in  par- 
ticular. 

At  335  East  Twenty-first  Street  the  New  York 
Diet  Kitchen  Association  maintains  the  Freeman 
Kitchen,  and  does  good  work  among  the  people  of 
the  nearby  district. 

The  C.  A.  I.  L.^  to  which  name  the  title  of  the 
Church  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  the 
Interests  of  Labor  is  sometimes  shortened,  was 
founded  in  connection  with  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  New  York,  in  1887,  and  now 
has  its  home  at  281  Fourth  Avenue.  The  associa- 
tion strives  to  interest  clergy  and  laity  in  the 
problems  of  the  day,  and  prepare  them  to  act 
wisely  in  any  exigency  connected  with  these.  This 
is  done  by  means  of  sermons,  addresses,  lectures, 
literature  and  public  meetings.  The  association 
has  established  a  permanent  board  of  conciliation 
and  arbitration,  has  aided  in  minimizing  the  evils 
of  the  sweating  system  and  tenement  house  abuses, 
and  has  assisted  in  factory  and  workshop  inspec- 
tion. Through  its  efforts  was  also  formed,  in  1899, 
the  Actors'  Church  Alliance,  to  improve  the  stand- 
ing and  condition  of  the  theatrical  profession. 

Possibly  the  largest  Hebrew  relief  association  in 
the  world  is  the  United  Hebrew  Charities,  which  is 
housed  at  Twenty-first  Street  and  Second  Avenue. 
The  tendency  of  this  association  is  to  give  other 
than  purely  monetary  relief.  Permanent  employ- 
ment is  secured  for  deserving  persons,  and  sums 
of  money  are  advanced  for  the  establishment  of 
small  business  ventures.  There  is  also  a  depart- 
ment through  which  deserving  persons  are  given 
work  in  desirable  places,  where  they  are  removed 
from  the  influence  of  the  New  York  Ghetto.  Note- 
worthy is  the  committee  on  tuberculosis,  which  is 
constantly  improving  the  sanitary  surroundings  of 
consumptives,  teaching  preventive  measures  and 
providing  suitable  means  of  livelihood  for  numer- 
ous cases. 

no 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

Calvary  House^  at  335  East  Twenty-second 
Street,  is  a  resident  house  for  clergy  and  workers 
of  the  Calvary  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
(Fourth  Avenue  and  Twenty-first  Street).  Its  in- 
tent is  to  bring  the  people  of  the  neighborhood 
together  in  a  social  way.  Other  efforts  are  car- 
ried on  by  the  church  in  the  Galilee  Mission,  at 
340  East  Twenty-third  Street,  which  is  really  the 
center  of  the  work  of  this  parish.  There  is  a  free 
reading-room  where  the  men  may  smoke,  and  a 
circulating  library.  In  connection  with  this  mis- 
sion is  the  Olive  Tree  Inn,  a  lodging  house  for 
men,  and  a  coffee  house  next  door.  There  is  also 
the  parish  wood  yard  and  coal  yard,  which  pro- 
vide work  for  the  homeless  and  pay  for  it  in  meals 
and  lodging. 

Another  lunch  wagon  may  be  found  at  the  foot 
of  East  Twenty-third  Street. 

At  the  foot  of  East  Twenty-fourth  Street  is  one 
of  the  Recreation  Piers. 

The  Municipal  Lodging  House,  where  home- 
less men  are  cared  for,  is  on  First  Avenue,  close 
by  Twenty-third  Street,  and  is  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Health  Department.  In  the  base- 
ment there  are  spray  baths  and  a  disinfecting  plant. 
Every  man  is  examined  with  a  view  to  excluding 
contagious  diseases,  and  those  needing  medical 
treatment  are  sent  to  the  hospital.  Every  lodger 
is  given  a  bath,  his  clothing  fumigated,  and  he  is 
provided  with  a  clean  bed.  References  are  investi- 
gated, and  if  he  returns  too  often  he  is  likely  to  be 
sent  before  a  magistrate  on  a  charge  of  vagrancy. 

There  is  a  picturesque  group  of  buildings  at  the 
foot  of  Twenty-sixth  Street.  From  some  points, 
and  especially  in  the  evening,  they  suggest  an  old 
feudal  castle.  These  are  the  buildings  of  Bellevue 
Hospital,  one  of  the  city's  great  institutions. 
There  are  more  than  700  beds,  where  cases  of 
sudden  illness  and  accident  are  treated,  and  where 
the  outdoor  poor  are  cared  for.  Connected  with 
the  institution  is  a  training  school  for  women 
nurses,  and  another  for  the  instruction  of  men 
nurses.     The  great  hospital  looks  all  the  greater 

III 


The  Better  New  York 

when  you  remember  its  first  home,  in  1736,  in  a 
little  structure,  containing  six  beds,  that  stood  in 
an  open  space  where  City  Hall  Park  is  now.  In 
1816  a  hospital  was  built  on  the  Belle  Vue  Farm, 
then  far  out  in  the  country.  This  original  build- 
ing still  stands  in  the  Bellevue  grounds,  a  stately, 
gloomy  structure,  grown  gray  with  age,  pleasant 
to  look  upon  outwardly,  but  in  woeful  contrast  to 
the  convenience  and  improvements  of  the  later 
buildings  that  have  sprung  up  about  it.  It  was 
here  that,  in  1869,  the  ambulance  service  was 
started,  the  first  service  of  the  kind  in  the  world. 
Bellevue  also  has  three  allied  hospitals  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  city:  the  Gouverneur,  in  the 
lower  East  Side;  Fordham  Hospital,  far  uptown, 
and  the  Harlem  Hospital,  in  the  midway  district. 

At  East  Twenty-sixth  Street  and  First  Avenue 
is  the  University  and  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical 
College,  which  was  established  in  its  present  form 
through  the  union  of  the  University  Medical  Col- 
lege and  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College. 
The  building,  which  is  a  new  one,  was  transferred 
to  the  New  York  University  at  the  time  these 
two  schools  were  consolidated.  It  is  six  stories 
high,  and  on  the  ground  floor  has  a  clinic  for  out- 
door sick  poor;  and  the  Carnegie  Laboratory  ad- 
joins and  communicates  with  the  new  college 
building.  This  was  a  gift  to  the  Bellevue  Hos- 
pital ^Medical  College  from  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie. 

St.  Mary's  schoolship  is  to  be  found  at  the  foot 
of  East  Twenty-eighth  Street.  During  the  six 
warm  months  of  the  year  the  boys  are  at  sea  for 
nautical  instruction;  for  the  other  six  months  at 
Twenty-eighth  Street  and  East  River,  where  they 
receive  a  common-school  education.  The  school- 
ship  receives  boys  residing  in  New  York  City, 
from  sixteen  to  twenty,  of  good  character  and  phys- 
ical condition,  for  two  years'  trainins:,  with  a  view 
to  service  in  the  merchant  marine.  It  was  former- 
ly a  United  States  ship  of  war,  and  its  officers  are 
specially  detailed  from  the  United  States  Navy 
Department.  The  ship  is  under  the  control  of  the 
Board  of  Education. 

An  interesting  spot  is  the  Bethlehem  Day  Nurs- 
112 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

ery,  at  249  East  Thirtieth  Street,  for  children  from 
one  week  to  seven  years  of  age,  where  working 
women  may  leave  them  to  be  cared  for  at  the  rate 
of  five  cents  a  day  for  each  child.  The  work  is 
supported  by  the  Church  of  the  Incarnation. 

At  246  and  248  East  Thirty-fourth  Street  is  the 
Warren  Goddard  House,  the  home  of  the  Friendly 
Aid  Settlement.  Thirty  clubs  and  classes  have 
been  formed  under  the  leadership  of  a  competent 
director.  There  is  a  gymnasium  which  is  well  pat- 
ronized, and  a  distinctive  feature  is  a  class  in 
electricit}'  for  older  boys. 

The  parish  house  of  the  Church  of  the  Incarna- 
tion is  a  building  of  striking  architecture,  extend- 
ing from  238  to  248  East  Thirty-first  Street,  and 
perfectly  fitted  for  the  varied  work  carried  on 
within  its  w^alls.  The  kindergarten-room  is  so 
arranged  that  it  affords  a  social  hall  for  evening 
entertainments.  In  addition  to  the  educational 
work,  a  trained  nurse  and  doctor  are  in  daily 
attendance. 

At  the  northwest  corner  of  Third  x\venue  and 
Thirtieth  Street  is  a  large,  attractive  building  of 
brick,  the  church  house  and  mission  of  the  Madi- 


Cozy  Corner  in  ]\Iadison  Square  Church  House. 


1^  i  ^^    i  'S- 


V 


Lich  Gate  of  the  Little  Church  Around  the  Corner. 

son  Square  Presbyterian  Church,  where  the  insti- 
tutional work  of  the  parish  is  carried  on  under 
every   variety    of    educational    and    social    activity. 

Among  the  social  and  educational  centers  seek- 
ing to  counteract  the  temptations  of  life  in  a  great 
city  is  the  Students'  Branch  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian   Association,    at    129   Lexington   Avenue. 

A  low  brick  building  in  the  form  of  a  Latin 
cross,  picturesque  in  architecture  and  surround- 
ings, stands  in  Twenty-ninth  Street,  east  of  Fifth 
Avenue.  This  is  the  Church  of  the  Transfigura- 
tion, usually  called  the  Little  Church  Around  the 
Corner.  It  took  its  name  from  the  celebrated  re- 
mark of  Mr.  Joseph  Jefferson,  "God  bless  the 
little  church  around  the  corner,"  spoken  when  the 
clergyman  of  a  larger  church  refused  to  olificiate  at 
the  funeral  of  the  actor  George  Holland.  It  main- 
tains a  varied  round  of  institutional  work.  "I  wish 
I  could  have  a  club  that  would  include  every  boy 
and  girl  in  the  parish,  and  by  boys  and  girls  I  mean 
those  that  are  all  the  way  from  seven  to  seventy," 
said  the  present  rector,  when  inquiry  was  made 
concerning  the  scope  of  his  work. 

The  Mott  Memorial  Library,  at  64  Madison 
Avenue,  near  Twenty-eighth  Street,  contains  mere 


114 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

than  3,000  volumes  exclusively  on  medical  and  sur- 
gical topics.  The  majority  of  these  were  the 
property  of  Valentine  Mott,  M.  D.,  with  800  vol- 
umes added  from  the  private  library  of  his  son, 
Dr.  Alexander  B.  Mott.  A  number  of  valuable 
works  have  also  been  given  by  families  of  deceased 
physicians.  The  building  was  erected  by  the  widow 
of  Dr.  Mott,  and  everything  about  it  is  free  to  all. 

Above  where  Fifth  Avenue  crosses  Broadway 
at  Twenty-third  Street  is  Madison  Square,  one  of 
the  parks  of  old  New  York.  Just  where  this  park 
is  now,  land  was  set  aside  in  the  year  1797  for  a 
Potters'  Field,  but  being  close  beside  the  main 
road  that  led  from  the  city  up  through  the  country, 
the  site  in  a  few  years  was  found  undesirable,  and 
so  the  paupers'  graveyard  was  transferred  to  what 
is  now  Washington  Square.  On  the  site  where 
Madison  Square  is  now,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  there  was  a  military  parade- 
ground,  and  this  in  turn  gave  way,  in  1824,  to  the 
building  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  which  stood  there 
until  1839,  when  it  was  burned.  The  present  Madi- 
son Square  was  laid  out  in  1849,  at  the  suggestion 
of  James  Harper,  then  mayor  of  the  city.  It  is 
now  a  delightful  breathing  and  play  spot,  espe- 
cially for  children.  On  the  left,  at  the  southwest 
corner,  there  is  a  bronze  statue  of  William  H. 
Seward;  at  the  southeast  corner,  one  of  Roscoe 
Conkling,  and  at  the  northern  end  there  are 
statues  of  Admiral  Farragut  and  Chester  A.  Arthur. 
Beyond  the  limits  of  the  park,  to  the  west,  is  a 
granite  obelisk,  erected  by  the  city  in  1857,  to  do 
honor  to  Major-General  Worth,  whose  body  was 
there   interred  with   imposing  ceremonies   in   1857. 

Signalizing  what  one  determined  man  can  do 
for  social  betterment  is  the  well-equipped  home 
of  the  American  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Cruelty  to  Animals,  on  the  Madison  Avenue  cor- 
ner, above  the  Park.  The  great  aim  of  the  society 
is  to  educate  people  through  sympathy  with  the 
laws  by  which  cruelty  to  animals  is  forbidden. 
Its  motor  ambulances  are  of  the  most  improved 
sort  for  the  removal  of  disabled  animals,  and  for 
the  collection  of  abandoned  dogs  and  cats,  whose 

115 


The  Better  New  York 

owners  are  no  longer  willing  to  care  for  them. 
Henry  Bergh,  the  animals'  friend,  was  a  well- 
known  figure  in  New  York,  and  greatly  interested 
in  constructive  as  well  as  preventive  efiforts.  The 
work  which  he  began  in  1866  included  the  protec- 
tion of  children  as  part  of  its  work,  but  experience 
showed  that  a  separate  organization  was  necessary 
for  that  purpose.  The  rooms  of  the  society  are 
open  day  and  night. 

The  city  beautiful  is  more  than  a  mere  phrase, 
and  is  daily  gaining  friends  from  all  classes,  who 
are  beginning  to  take  a  pride  in  the  city  where 
they  live.  To  afford  the  needful  mechanism  for  the 
operation  of  all  these  plans,  the  City  Improvement 
Society,  at  42  East  Twenty-third  Street,  seeks  to 
promote  in  every  possible  manner  the  beautifying 
of  the  city,  and  the  enforcement  of  all  laws  re- 
lating to  the  public  welfare. 

Among  the  distinguished  benefactions  of  Ameri- 
can citizens  to  their  municipality,  a  gift  of  John 
S.  Kennedy,  in  1893,  was  the  first  of  its  kind  and 
marked  a  radical  departure  from  old-time  methods. 
His  gift  was  a  great  building  to  four  non-sectarian 
charitable  organizations,  the  Children's  Aid  Soci- 
ety, the  Charity  Organization  Society,  the  New 
York  City  Mission  and  Tract  Society,  and  the 
Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the 
Poor. 

The  United  Charities  Building,  at  Twenty-second 
Street  and  Fourth  Avenue  may  be  considered  as 
a  kind  of  power-house  for  the  great  organizations 
of  charitable  effort.  From  it,  as  a  center,  radiate 
to  all  parts  of  the  world  influences  that  are  incal- 
culable for  social  and  industrial  betterment.  It 
is  impossible  to  get  more  than  an  impressionist 
view  of  the  varied  philanthropies  in  this  building. 

In  America  the  children  and  the  oppressed 
should  not  cry  in  vain.  Because  of  the  helplessness 
of  certain  classes  in  the  community,  especially  the 
children,  all  the  experience  of  the  past  needs  to  be 
crystalized  into  the  wisest  and  most  permanent 
care  for  them.  In  1853,  Charles  Loring  Brace,  the 
children's  friend,  despairing  of  reaching  the  adults, 

116 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

turned  his  thought  to  the  children,  for  whom  he 
organized  the  Children's  Aid  Society.  He  became 
the  secretary,  and  devoted  himself  solely  to  its  in- 
terests. This  great  life-saving  station  for  children 
is  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  known  philanthropic 
agencies  in  America.  It  is  non-sectarian  and  non- 
partisan; it  knows  no  distinction  of  creed,  color  or 
nationality;  its  first  consideration  is  relief  of  the 
distress  of  the  child  quickly  and  tenderly;  heart 
rather  than  head  methods,  but  an  experience  of 
many  years  enables  the  society  to  lessen  suffering 
and  distress  by  the  wisest,  yet  most  efficient  means. 
The  poor  always  come  first  in  all  their  plans. 
Nineteen  industrial  schools,  kindergartens  in  poor 
and  populous  districts,  vacation  schools,  evening 
classes  and  lodging  houses  are  some  means  to  self- 
help.  Another  feature  of  the  society  is  the  procur- 
ing of  homes  in  the  West  for  children  of  this  great 
city,  the  idea  being  that  the  farmer's  home  is  the 
best  possible  place  to  shelter  and  rear  the  home- 
less orphan  or  outcast  child.  It  has  placed  in 
happy  foster  homes  more  than  75,000  boys  and 
girls.  Then  there  is  a  children's  summer  home 
and  a  cottage  for  crippled  girls  at  Bath  Beach, 
a  health  home  at  West  Coney  Island,  and  a  farm 
school  for  boys  at  Kensico.  (For  the  various 
branches  of  the  society,  schools,  kindergartens 
and  others,  see  general  Index. 

To  help  remedy  the  existing  adverse  conditions 
among  the  poor,  and  by  wise  oversight  and  dis- 
creet giving,  to  ameliorate  the  results  of  such  con- 
ditions, was  the  purpose  of  the  Association  for  Im- 
proving the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  formed  some 
sixty  years  ago  by  Robert  M.  Hartley.  The 
society  has  an  honorable  record  in  its  efforts 
for  better  housing,  public  baths,  wise  legislation 
and  successful  settlement  work.  It  has  a  Depart- 
ment of  Relief,  which  promptly  gives  aid  by  free 
gifts  when  necessary,  but  when  possible  in  the 
form  of  employment.  It  has  a  corps  of  exper- 
ienced workers,  who  go  among  the  tenement 
districts  of  the  city,  and  its  fresh  air  work  at  Sea 
Breeze,  West  Coney  Island,  has  been  of  admir- 
able service.     Hartley  House  Settlement  has  been 

117 


The  Better  New  York 

developed  through  the  efforts  of  the  society,  and 
now  stands  among  the  successful  movements  of 
this  kind  in  New  York. 

The  interest  of  the  association  in  the  matter  of 
public  baths,  for  the  benefit  of  the  working  peo- 
ple, has  existed  since  1849,  when  the  association 
spent  $42,000  in  building  a  public  bath  in  T^Iott 
Street,  near  Grand.  The  reports  of  the  associa- 
tion state  that  it  was  well  patronized  for  eight 
years,  and  then  in  the  following  years  the  bathers 
falling  in  number,  it  was  closed,  and  from  that 
period  until  1891  no  attempt  was  made,  either 
by  public  authorities  or  bodies  of  private  citi- 
zens, to  provide  further  bathing  facilities  for  the 
people.  In  1891,  however,  the  association  again 
took  up  the  matter  and  erected  the  People's  Baths, 
at  9  Center  Market  Place,  at  a  cost  of  $26,000. 
These  were  at  once  enormously  successful,  every 
year  since  showing  a  large  increase  in  the  number 
of  baths  taken.  Another  of  the  People's  Baths 
— Anderson  Foundation — erected  for  the  associa- 
tion by  an  interested  patron,  is  to  be  shortly 
opened  at  325-327  East  Thirty-eighth  Street,  in  the 
densely  populated  district  east  of  Second  Avenue. 

Beginning  its  work  in  1822,  the  New  York  City 
Mission  and  Tract  Society  has  now  for  some  years 
had  its  headquarters  in  the  United  Charities  Build- 
ing. It  is  a  society  which,  with  its  efficient 
Woman's  Branch,  has  held  loyally  to  the  truth 
that  the  redemption  of  mankind  can  only  be  based 
on  the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  yet  at  the  same  time 
leading  in  many  of  the  changes  of  methods  now 
counted  by  thoughtful  people  as  most  desirable. 
The  first  training  school  for  nurses  in  this  country 
was  started  by  a  leader  of  this  society,  who  also 
placed  under  the  society's  management  a  graduate 
of  Bellevue  to  do  the  first  district  nursing  in 
America.  At  present,  among  its  nurses,  several 
have  taken  upon  themselves  the  duty  of  attending 
the  children  in  the  schools  of  the  city. 

One  of  the  society's  objects  being  to  promote 
morality  and  religion  among  the  poor  and  desti- 
tute of  the  city,  house-to-house  visitation  is  car- 

118 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

ried  on  in  a  practical  and  tactful  manner,  and  over 
50,000  calls  are  made  in  one  year  by  its  mission- 
aries and  nurses. 

Many  Sunday-schools,  nurseries,  mission  sta- 
tions and  churches  in  the  poorest  parts  of  the  city 
owe  their  establishment  and  maintenance  to  this 
society,  and  much  special  work  is  accomplished 
under  its  care  in  such  churches  as  the  following: 
Broome  Street  Tabernacle,  De  Witt  Memorial, 
Olivet  Memorial,  Sea  and  Land,  Spring  Street 
and  Bethlehem  Chapel.  Its  Virginia  Day  Nursery 
at  632  Fifth  Street,  and  its  house  for  Italian 
services,  meetings,  and  clubs  at  194  Prince  Street 
are  each  in  their  own  way  doing  excellent  service. 
A  Training  School  for  Christian  Workers,  with  an 
adjacent  home,  is  also  part  of  the  activities  of  the 
society. 

The  American  Institute  of  Social  Service,  hav- 
ing its  home  in  roomy  apartments  on  the  ninth 
and  tenth  floors  of  this  building,  collects  and  in- 
terprets statistics  and  information  regarding  all 
forms  of  social  endeavor  for  the  improvement  of 

American  Institute  of  Social  Service.     A  Social  Laboratory. 


^ii-r 


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fir ' ^  ^  ' 


Classified  Experiences  in  Social  Betterment. 

social  and  industrial  life.  It  concentrates  in  one 
body  the  results  of  the  experience  of  thousands 
of  individual  workers  in  the  field  of  philanthropic 
and  social  effort.  Industrial  classes,  baths,  play- 
grounds, workingmen's  hotels,  clubs,  libraries, 
cheap  dinners — these  are  a  few  of  the  items  which 
are  projected  by  the  institute,  set  forth,  however, 
with  a  perfect  knowledge  of  all  previous  effort. 
With  its  store  of  well-arranged  information  the 
institute  can  guide  the  beginner  in  the  right 
path,  and  warn  him  against  the  pitfalls  that  have 
engulfed  his  predecessors.  In  a  broad  way  its 
object  may  be  defined  as  *'A  Search  for  the  Good." 
It  has  received  and  arranged  an  immense  amount 
of  information  in  regard  to  social  and  industrial 
betterment,  and  has  been  able  to  furnish  practi- 
cal advice  to  employers  of  labor  and  others  who 
are  desirous  of  improving  their  communities. 

The  Charity  Organization  Society  dates  from 
1882,  its  aim  being  to  unite  the  independent  so- 
cieties of  New  York,  in  order  to  prevent  waste  of 
effort  and  insure  more  careful  investigation  pre- 
vious to  relief-giving.  Its  agencies  are  the  invest- 
igation department,  with  a  special  corps  of  agents; 
a  registration  bureau,  where  a  confidential  record 


120 


Where  the  Social 
Doctor  receives 
his  patients  at  the 
American  Institute 
of  Social  Service. 


is  kept  of  all  investigations  made  by  the  society, 
and  of  what  has  been  done  by  way  of  relief;  and 
an  application  bureau  for  either  assisting  appli- 
cants through  the  society's  district  workers,  or 
directing  them  to  the  proper  sources  for  relief. 
During  June  and  July  a  summer  school  for  the 
study  of  philanthropic  work  is  open  to  college 
graduates  and  those  who  have  had  one  year's 
experience  in  charitable  work.  The  work  of  the 
school  has  been  extended  so  as  to  provide  a  two- 
years'  course.  A  tenement  house  committee 
works  for  the  enforcement  of  existing  laws.  Pre- 
vention of  tuberculosis  has  been  attempted 
through  the  publication  of  information  as  to  the 
character  of  the  disease,  and  other  remedial 
agencies. 

The  Charity  Organization  Society's  Penny 
Provident  Fund  is  not  a  savings  bank,  but  en- 
courages the  saving  of  the  smallest  sums,  from 
adults  as  well  as  children.  Deposits  of  one  cent 
and  upwards  are  receipted  for  by  stamps  attached 
to  a  stamp  card  given  to  each  depositer,  much  the 
same  as  in  the  postal  savings  system  of  England. 
When  this  sum  amounts  to  a  certain  figure,  the  de- 
positors are  advised  to  open  an  account  in  a  savings 
bank,  where  interest  may  be  obtained.     Money  may 


121 


?^.y^.-  ^    .     Z-^-^// 


Social  Laboratory. 

be  deposited  in  this  way  at  300  local  stamp  sta- 
tions, at  which  there  are  some  79,000  depositors. 
Stations  are  opened  in  churches,  schools,  associa- 
tions, institutions,  stores  and  clubs,  on  application 
to  the  cashier,  from  whom  also  a  list  of  stations  or 
sub-stations  may  be  had.  Through  district  offices 
in  all  parts  of  the  city,  this  work  is  brought  down 
to  those  most  in  need  of  it. 

On  the  eighth  floor  is  the  Congregational  Home 
Missionary  Society,  the  same  society  with  a  dif- 
ferent name  from  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Association,  originally  inter-denominational.  The 
Congregational  Church  Building  Society,  and  the 
New  York  office  of  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions,  occupy  rooms  on 
this  floor,  as  well  as  the  American  Missionary  As- 
sociation, working  among  the  negroes,  mountain 
whites,  Chinese  and  Indians.  Visitors  are  wel- 
comed at  these  great  societies,  whose  representa- 
tives are  always  delighted  to  explain  their  work 
and  show  the  results  of  their  practical  efforts. 

Nearly  twenty-five  years  ago  the  idea  of  the 
first  kitchen  garden  was  evolved  by  Miss  Emily 
Huntington,  now  the  head  of  the  New  York  Cook- 

122 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

ing  School.  At  that  time  Miss  Huntington  began 
to  instruct  some  of  the  children  of  the  East  Side 
in  housework,  by  means  of  games  and  toys.  This 
idea  took  practical  shape,  and  the  first  kitchen 
garden  association  was  formed.  The  work  of  the 
simple  kitchen  garden  is  divided  into  some  dozen 
lessons.  In  the  first  the  children  learn  how  to 
light  a  fire,  how  to  fold  properly  pieces  of  white 
paper  which  represent  sheets,  tablecloths  and 
napkins.  In  another,  sweeping  and  dusting  are 
taught  through  marching  exercises  with  a  broom. 
To  the  question,  "How  do  you  dust  a  chair?"  the 
rhyming  answer  is 

''First  the  back  and  then  the  seat, 
Next  the  rungs  and  then  the  feet." 

Dolls'  tea-sets,  little  wooden  tubs  and  other  dimin- 
utive implements  are  used  in  this  instruction  in 
housewifely  duties.  As  the  children  scrub  with 
imaginary  soapsuds  their  dolls'  garments,  they 
sing  the  directions,  and  this  same  method  is  car- 
ried on  through  all  the  details  of  work. 

On  the  top  floor  of  the  United  Charities  Build- 
ing the  activities  of  the  New  York  Cooking  School 
are  many  and  varied.  Evening  lessons  are  given 
at  small  cost  to  girls  occupied  during  the  day. 
Day  classes  furnish  instruction  to  women  wishing 
to  improve  their  knowledge  of  domestic  affairs. 
Lessons  are  also  given  to  women  wishing  to  be- 
come volunteer  teachers  of  cooking  in  settlements. 
The  school  itself  is  a  model,  and  an  afternoon 
could  be  agreeably  spent  in  examining  its  various 
departments. 

The  white  list  and  the  league  label  are  guaran- 
tees to  the  thoughtful  purchasing  public  that 
seller  and  maker  are  putting  out  a  product  manu- 
factured under  fair  and  healthful  conditions.  The 
Consumers'  League  of  the  City  of  New  York  for 
a  dozen  years  or  more  has  sought  to  lead  con- 
sumers to  recognize  their  responsibility  in  the 
matter  of  bettering  the  condition  of  employees.  It 
tries  to  show  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  consumer 
to  inquire  into  the  conditions  under  which  the 
articles  they  purchase  are  produced,  insisting  that 

123 


The  Better  New  York 

these  conditions  shall  be  wholesome  and  just.  The 
offices  of  this  league  are  also  in  the  Charities 
Building. 

The  State  Charities  Aid  Association^  in  this 
building,  too,  was  organized  in  1872,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing  about  much-needed  reforms  in 
the  poorhouses,  almshouses  and  other  public  char- 
itable institutions  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
through  the  County  Visiting  Committees,  who  in- 
spect county  poorhouses,  city  and  town  almshouses 
and  State  charitable  institutions,  reporting  their 
condition  to  the  central  association  in  New  York 
City.  A  long  record  of  things  done  attests  the 
usefulness  of  this  association. 

A  society,  with  a  capital  of  $275,000,  and  two 
other  branches,  carries  on  a  general  pawnbroking 
business,  making  loans  on  pledges  of  personal 
property,  at  a  rate  of  one  per  cent  a  month,  where- 
as, the  ordinary  pawnbroker  charges  three  per  cent. 
On  all  pledges  redeemed  within  two  weeks  after 
date  of  pledge,  only  one-half  of  one  per  cent  is 
charged,  and  on  accounts  over  $250,  ten  per  cent 
per  annum.  This  helpful  agency  is  called  the  Prov- 
ident Loan  Society,  which  has  its  main  office  quar- 
ters at  Twenty-second  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue. 

The  New  York  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Cruelty  to  Children  has  its  own  building  at 
Twenty-third  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue.  Since 
its  incorporation,  in  1875,  the  society  has  prose- 
cuted all  cases  of  cruelty  to  children  under  sixteen 
years  of  age.  Almost  every  form  of  cruelty,  in- 
cluding the  most  revolting,  is  included  in  these 
cases.  During  one  year  about  9,000  cases  are 
thoroughly  examined  by  the  society.  In  this  com- 
munity, thanks  to  the  vigilance  of  this  society,  none 
may  ill-treat  a  child  with  impunity;  the  crime  will 
sooner  or  later  be  discovered  and  the  guilty  one 
brought  to  justice.  It  receives  and  cares  for, 
pending  trial  or  examination,  all  children  under 
the  age  of  sixteen  held  for  crime,  or  as  witnesses 
in  criminal  cases.  Application  for  relief  can  be 
made  at  any  hour,  day  or  night. 

At  Twenty-third  Street  and  Lexington  Avenue 
is  the  castle-like  building  which  houses  the  College 

I2d 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

of  the  City  of  New  York.  When  it  was  estab- 
lished, in  1848,  it  was  called  the  Free  Academy.  In 
1854  it  was  endowed  with  collegiate  powers  and 
privileges,  and  was  permitted  to  confer  degrees 
and  diplomas  in  the  arts  and  sciences.  The  insti- 
tution is  free,  as  are  also  the  text-books  and  ap- 
paratus, and  it  is  maintained  at  a  cost  to  the  city 
of  about  $175,000.  It  is  soon  to  have  a  new  home, 
for  already  a  structure  of  magnificent  proportions 
is  under  way  at  138th  Street  and  St.  Nicholas 
Avenue. 

The  parish  house  of  the  Calvary  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  is  beside  the  church  building,  at 
Fourth  Avenue  and  Twenty-first  Street,  and  here 
are  the  headquarters  of  the  Maternity  Society, 
through  which  baskets,  well-filled  with  all  that  a 
family  needs,  are  passed  from  the  mother  of  one 
family  to  the  mother  of  another.  Here,  too,  are 
educational  clubs  for  young  men  and  girls. 

Connected  with  All  Souls'  Unitarian  Church,  at 
Fourth  Avenue  and  Twentieth  Street,  is  the  New 
York  Flower  and  Fruit  Mission,  which  distributes 
flowers,  fruit  and  delicacies  to  the  sick  in  hospitals 
and  tenement  houses,  and  at  Christmas  time  cheers 
the  lives  of  ailing  children,  by  sending  them  gifts 
appropriate  to  the  day,  and  delicacies  which  they 
would  otherwise  never  receive. 

As  association  which  had  much  to  do  in  creat- 
ing the  popular  sentiment  which  led  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  State  Reformatory  is  the  Prison 
Association  of  New  York,  whose  headquarters  are 
at  135  East  Fifteenth  Street.  It  has  also  been 
more  or  less  influential  in  other  measures  for  im- 
proving the  prison  system  of  the  State. 

In  early  days  the  space  that  is  called  Union 
Square  was  a  meeting  place  for  half  a  dozen  dif- 
ferent roads,  and  the  land  was  so  cut  up  that  when 
the  city  was  built  so  far  toward  the  north,  it  be- 
came a  natural  park,  because  there  was  not  room 
in  the  divided-up  space  for  building  purposes.  It 
was  originally  laid  out  in  1815,  and  enlarged  in 
1832  to  its  present  size,  when  it  was  purchased  by 
the  city  as  a  public  park.    At  one  side  of  it  there  is 

I2«? 


The  Better  New  York 

an  equestrian  statue  of  Washington,  of  heroic 
size,  modeled  by  H.  K.  Browne.  On  the  southwest 
corner  there  is  a  bronze  statue  of  Abraham  Lin- 
cohi  (also  the  work  of  Mr.  Browne),  erected  by 
popular  subscription  shortly  after  his  assassination, 
and  there,  too,  is  a  bronze  statue  of  Lafayette, 
erected  by  French  residents  in  1876,  modeled  by 
Bartholdi.  The  lunch  wagon  which  stands  to  the 
east  of  the  square  is  maintained  by  the  Church 
Temperance  Society. 

The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  with 
its  main  building  at  7  East  Fifteenth  Street,  seeks 
to  improve  the  temporal,  social,  moral  and  relig- 
ious condition  of  young  women,  particularly  those 
dependent  upon  their  own  labor  for  support.  It 
does  this  by  procuring  employment,  finding  them 
safe  boarding  houses,  by  religious  meetings,  libra- 
ries,  and   reading-rooms.     It  looks   after  them   in 

Technical  Training  at  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 


4^ 


?■  f. 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue. 

sickness,  and  in  necessity  procures  food,  clothing 
and  medicines. 

To  the  west  of  the  park,  at  14  East  Sixteenth 
Street,  is  the  Margaret  Louisa  Home,  maintained 
by  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  as  a 
hotel  for  self-supporting  Protestant  women.  This 
affords  shelter  for  women  whose  stay  in  the  city  is 
temporary,  and  for  whom  ordinary  hotels  are  too 
high  priced.  There  is  a  well-conducted  restaurant 
in  connection  with  it. 


DIVISION  VI. 


Thirty- fourth   to   Fifty-seventh   Street,   East   of   Fifth 
Avenue. 

The  best  approach  to  the  people  of  a  neighbor- 
hood rests  largely  with  the  children.  Many  hun- 
dreds of  children  of  school  age  find  easy  escape 
from  the  public  schools,  and  hang  about  the 
streets.  It  is  with  these  that  the  settlement  works 
especially.  Within  a  radius  of  half  a  mile  from  the 
Phelps  Settlement,  at  314  East  Thirty-fifth  Street, 
there  is  a  population  of  about  60,000,  among  whom 
this    organization    carries    on    its    social    activities. 

To  establish  medical  missions  all  over  the  world, 
as  well  as  to  train  young  men  and  women  to  serve 
as  missionaries  under  Protestant  and  evangelical 
missionary  boards,  is  the  object  of  the  Interna- 
tional ALedical  Missionary  Society,  at  288  Lex- 
ington Avenue,  near  Thirty-seventh  Street. 

The  training  of  artistic  workers  in  the  various 
branches  of  art  industries  by  means  of  classes  and 
practical  suggestions  to  learners,  as  well  as  pro- 
viding a  place  for  the  exhibition  and  sale  of 
women's  art  work,  is  the  purpose  of  the  Society  of 
Decorative   Art,   at    14   East  Thirty-fourth   Street. 

127 


Brick  Presbyterian  Church. 


There  is  a  pleasant  significance  in  the  name 
Park  Avenue,  that  wide  thoroughfare  which,  from 
its  start  at  Thirty-fourth  Street,  shows  a  long 
line  of  parkway  with  finely  kept  shrubbery.  There 
are  agreeable  green  spots  restful  to  the  eye,  serv- 
ing the  purpose  of  disguising  the  tunnel  extending 
through  this  street,  which  without  this  treatment 
would  be  an  unsightly  stretch  of  masonry. 

Through  earnest  and  effective  work  for  all  forms 
of  Christian  betterment,  the  Brick  Presbyterian 
Church  and  its  branches^  the  Church  of  the  Cove- 
nant and  Christ  Church,  have  accomplished  excel- 
lent things.  The  substantial  building  on  Fifth 
Avenue  and  Thirty-seventh  Street,  with  its  hand- 
some interior,  and  the  ready  welcome  extended 
therein  to  strangers,  has  long  made  the  "Brick 
Church"  a  center  of  interest  and  filled  its  pews 
with  a  reverent  congregation. 

At  501  Fifth  Avenue  is  the  headquarters  of  St. 
John's  Guild,  which  relieves  the  sick  children  of 
the  poor,  without  regard  to  creed,  color  or  nation- 
ality. It  was  originally  founded  in  Trinity  Parish, 
connected  with  the   St.  John's   Chapel,  whence   its 

128 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 


name.  In  1874  the  character  of  the  work  broad- 
ening, it  withdrew  from  the  direction  of  the  Trinity 
Parish,  and  became  non-sectarian.  It  now  main- 
tains two  floating  hospitals  and  a  seaside  hospital 
on  Staten  Island,  at  New  Dorp.  The  floating  hos- 
pitals each  carry  1,600  persons  daily — mothers,  chil- 
dren and  sick  babies.  These  hospitals  minister  to 
both  sides  of  the  city,  making  daily  excursions, 
sailing  twenty-six  miles  in  the  salt  air  during  the 
summer  months.  The  guild  provides  medical  treat- 
ment, with  hospital  care  by  physicians  and  trained 
nurses.  This  began  in  1873,  when  two  excursions 
were  conducted  upon  hired  boats.  The  first  float- 
ing hospital,  which  was  also  the  first  in  the  world, 
was  equipped  in  1875,  and  it  made  three  trips  a 
week  during  the  summer. 

Half  a  block  from  here,  towards  the  east,  is  the 
present  Delmonico's.  This  name,  now  synony- 
mous with  good  eating  the  length  of  the  land,  was 

On  Board  the  Floating  Hospital. 


The  Better  New  York 

first  known  to  New  York  about  the  year  1828, 
through  a  dingy  Httle  store  on  the  east  side  of  Wil- 
Ham  Street,  between  Fulton  and  Ann,  and  directly 
opposite  the  North  Dutch  Church.  There  were  in 
it  a  half  dozen  wooden  tables  and  chairs,  and  a 
board  counter.  The  table  ware  was  crockery,  and 
the  cutlery  was  of  the  commonest  sort.  John  Del- 
monico  was  the  chef  and  waiter.  The  excellence 
of  the  cooking,  and  the  marked  difference  between 
the  French  and  the  Italian  dishes  served  there, 
contrasted  with  the  plain  food  of  Knickerbocker 
families,  drew  custom  which  crowded  the  little 
store.  In  order  to  keep  pace  with  his  custom, 
Delmonico  set  up  a  larger  shop  at  23  William 
Street,  but  the  great  fire  of  1835  swept  it  away. 
In  1837  he  was  conducting  business  on  a  still  larger 
scalCj  with  his  brother,  at  William  and  Beaver 
Streets,  which  establishment  is  still  operated  under 
the  Delmonico  name.  His  business  and  his  repu- 
tation increased  year  by  year,  and  his  brother 
and  sons,  as  well  as  himself,  accumulated  fortunes, 
and  in  time  set  up  various  establishments  at  Cham- 
bers Street  and  Broadway,  Fourteenth  Street  and 
Broadway,  Twenty-sixth  Street  and  Broadway, 
and  finally  at  the  present  location,  Forty-fourth 
Street  and  Fifth  Avenue.  The  original  Delmonico 
died  of  apoplexy  at  a  deer  hunt  on  Long  Island, 
in  November,  1842. 

The  bronze  doors  placed  in  the  three  portals  of 
St.  Bartholomew's  Church,  at  Forty-fourth  Street 
and  Madison  Avenue,  in  memory  of  Cornelius 
Vanderbilt,  by  his  widow  and  children,  are  of  such 
beauty  and  richness  of  workmanship  and  design 
that  all  passers-by  recall  the  marvelous  doors  cast 
by  Ghiberti  for  the  Baptistry  at  Florence,  among 
the  most  beautiful  castings  in  the  world,  and  which 
Michael  Angelo  said  were  worthy  to  be  the  gates 
of  Paradise.  The  doors  of  St.  Bartholomew's  are 
framed  by  a  seventy-five  foot  colonnade  supporting 
rich  Romanesque  arches  and  a  frieze  of  sculpture 
in  high  relief.  The  central  panels  show  an  original 
conception  of  the  four  Evangelists,  while  in  other 
panels  are  scenes  or  figures  from  apostolic  history, 
representations  of  the  Annunciation,  the  Adoration 
of  the   Magi,  the  Via  Dolorosa  and  the   Descent 

130 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

from  the  Cross.     The  tympanum  above  the  center 
depicts  the  Coronation  of  Christ. 

Mt.  Olivet,  the  Olive  Branch,  the  Passion  and 
Peace  are  the  prevading  ideas  in  the  sculpture  of 
the  northerly  door,  whose  casting,  each  half  of 
which  was  done  in  a  single  piece,  is  one  of  the  most 
successful  undertakings  of  this  character  in  the 
United   States. 

The  object  of  the  New  York  Exchange  for 
Woman's  Work,  with  headquarters  at  334  Madison 
Avenue,  corner  Forty-third  Street,  is  to  receive 
the  product  of  women  workers  and  sell  it.  There 
is  also  an  information  bureau,  through  which  po- 
sitions are  secured  at  a  small  registration  fee,  and 
also  a  postoffice  for  the  convenience  of  any  one 
whose  address  is  not  permanent. 

A  railroad  men's  club,  at  361  Madison  Avenue, 
corner  Forty-fifth  Street,  was  organized  in  1875. 
The  first  meeting  place  was  in  a  basement-room 
of  the  Grand  Central  Station,  when  so  much  inter- 
est was  shown,  both  by  the  men  and  the  officials 
of  the  railroad,  that  in  1887  the  Madison  Avenue 
building  was  erected,  again  doubled  in  size  in  1893. 
Everything  is  done  to  attract  and  make  comfort- 
able the  railroad  men.  There  are  lounging-rooms, 
open  and  free  from  restraint,  baths,  lunchrooms 
and  dormitories.  All  classes  of  railway  men  meet 
as  equals  here,  whether  they  be  clerks,  yardmen, 
baggage  men,  brakemen  or  the  highest  officials  of 
the  road.  There  are  now  five  of  these  railway 
men's  clubs  under  the  care  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association. 

A  large  factor  in  better  New  York,  as  well  as 
in  the  higher  life  of  every  city,  is  the  Institutional 
Church.  A  church  that  takes  upon  itself  the  duties 
of  both  church  and  home — such  a  church  is  called 
Institutional. 

When  New  York  was  younger,  and  population 
was  smaller,  there  were  homes  for  all  the  people, 
roomy  houses  in  which  were  opportunities  for  nor- 
mal home  life,  for  recreation,  undisturbed  study, 
seclusion,  family  gatherings;  but  as  the  city  grew, 
and  the  population  increased,  there  was  no  longer 
space  for  a  house  for  each  family.     Then  they  hud- 

131 


The  Better  New  York 

died  together,  until  the  time  came  when  hundreds 
of  families  sometimes  lived  under  a  single  roof. 
Conditions  had  changed;  there  was  no  longer 
room  for  real  home  life.  Rent  was  of  more  con- 
sideration than  people. 

Of  changed  conditions  the  Institutional  Church 
is  the  natural  growth.  Finding  that  the  people 
living  in  the  neighborhood  have  no  facilities  for 
bathing,  it  provides  free  baths;  finding  that  they 
have  no  social  life,  it  arranges  for  clubs  for  old  and 
young;  it  hnds  that  they  have  little  opportunity  or 
money  for  legitimate  amusements,  and  provides 
for  them  concerts  and  entertainments;  it  finds  that 
women  and  children  possess  no  knowledge  of 
household  economies,  and  gives  them  sewing 
schools  and  cooking  classes;  as  the  people  have 
little  chance  to  obtain  literature,  it  provides  them 
with  a  library;  if  they  lack  opportunity  for  culti- 
vating the  intellect,  it  provides  classes  and  lecture 
courses  for  both  day  and  evening;  when  they  get 
little  pure  air,  it  organizes  for  them  vacations  to 
the  country. 

So  it  will  be  seen  that  the  functions  of  an  Insti- 
tutional Church  are  educational,  charitable  and 
recreational. 

It  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  such  activi- 
ties as  are  part  of  an  Institutional  Church  can  be 
carried  on  in  a  single  church  building.  There 
must  be  special  accommodations.  For  this  pur- 
pose a  special  building  is  set  up,  a  receiving  and 
distributing  station — a  parish  house — and  under 
this  one  roof  are  concentrated  the  various  organi- 
zations, thus  keeping  them  together  in  harmony 
and  economy. 

Illustrating  concretely  the  Institutional  Church, 
St.  Bartholomew's  Protestant  Episcopal  parish 
house,  a  great  five-story  building,  is  in  Forty-sec- 
ond St-reet,  a  few  doors  east  of  Third  Avenue.  No 
other  church  enterprise  covers  a  larger  field. 
Within  the  walls  of  the  parish  house  are  clubs 
for  girls,  with  a  membership  of  nearly  lOO.  The 
members  have  the  benefit  of  lectures  and  enter- 
tainments, physical  culture  classes;  of  classes  in 
a   dozen  branches   of  education,   besides   dressma- 

132 


New  York  Children  at   Play  on   Roof  of  St.    Bartholomew's 
Mission  House. 

king,  millinery,  embroidery,  sewing  and  cooking, 
thus  having  opportunities  not  only  for  free  educa- 
tion, but  instruction  in  some  branch  of  industry  by 
which  they  can  earn  their  living.  There  are,  too, 
clubs  for  boys  and  men,  having  something  like 
1,200  members,  who  enjoy  the  same  advantages 
as  the  girls.  There  is  in  this  same  building  a 
loan  bureau,  where  more  than  $60,000  a  year  is 
dispensed,  the  amounts  loaned  ranging  from  $5 
to  $50,  and  paid  back  in  monthly  instalments.  In 
the  restaurant,  food  may  be  had  for  very  small 
sums,  but  not  for  nothing.  Hungry  men  may  get 
tickets  for  food  when  they  are  willing  to  work, 
but  they  are  not  fed  unless  they  show  some  will- 
ingness to  make  return.  An  employment  bureau 
on  thoroughly  business  principles  last  year  secured 
situations  for  more  than  2,000  persons.  Then,  too, 
there  is  a  tailor  shop.  From  the  benevolent  soci- 
ety, thousands  of  garments  are  distributed  'during 
the  year;  hundreds  are  sold  at  nominal  figures. 

Besides  these  activities,  there  is  an  Oriental 
Mission,  for  the  education  of  the  Asiatic  races;  a 
Chinese  Sunday-school,  a  Swedish  Chapel,  a  Res- 
cue Mission  for  men  and  women,  a  Fresh  Air  Mis- 


133 


11-^ 


^*4'"'     II      ; 


Americanizing  Chinamen. 

sion,  an  office  for  out-of-town  farmers,  a  seaside  cot- 
tage, a  provident  fund  for  encouraging  thrift,  a 
system  of  tenement  house  investigation,  kinder- 
gartens^ an  eye  and  ear  dispensary,  a  surgical  cHnic, 
a  free  coal  and  wood  bureau,  library,  gymnasiums 
and  a  dozen  other  features. 

Summarizing  the  more  important  work  of  the 
parish,  there  are  eighteen  different  services  on 
Sunday,  200  meetings  each  week;  more  than  300 
girls  are  taken  to  the  holiday  house  for  a  bit  of 
country  air  and  recreation;  more  than  2,000  out- 
ings are  given  to  tired  mothers  and  their  children, 
each  year;  something  like  2,500  positions  are  se- 
cured for  the  unemployed,  and  about  2,200  meai, 
boys,  women  and  girls  are  educated  and  instructed. 

The  attractive  building  at  310  East  Forty-second 
Street  is  the  home  of  the  Church  of  the  Covenant, 
affiliated  with  the  work  of  the  Brick  Presbyterian 
Church  on  Fifth  Avenue.  Originally  known  as 
the  Covenant  Chapel,  it  began  its  existence  as  a 
mission  school  over  a  stable  on  Fortieth  Street, 
near  Third  Avenue,  but  when  the  old  Church  of 
the  Covenant,  at  Park  Avenue  and  Thirty-fifth 
Street    was    merged    some    ten   years    ago    in    the 


134 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 


Brick  Presbyterian  Church,  the  chapel  work  in  its 
new  quarters,  in  Forty-second  Street,  assumed  its 
name  and  today  takes  its  place  among  the  institu- 
tional church  bodies  of  the  city. 

St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  at  Fifth  Avenue  and 
Fiftieth  Street,  occupies  an  entire  block,  and  is  one 
of  the  finest  and  most  imposing  church  buildings 
in  the  United  States.  It  was  planned  by  Arch- 
bishop Hughes,  about  1850,  and  the  corner  stone 
was  laid  1858.  The  architecture  is  of  the  decorated 
or  geometric  style  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
building  is  of  white  marble,  with  base-course  of 
granite.  The  massive  columns  which  support  the 
roof  are  of  white  marble,  thirty-five  feet  in  height. 
The  altar  is  forty  feet  high,  with  a  table  that  was 
constructed  in  Italy.  It  is  lighted  by  seventy  win- 
dows, thirty-seven  of  which  are  memorial. 

For  more  than  thirty  years  St.  Thomas's  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church,  at  Fifth  Avenue  and 
Fifty-third  Street,  was  particularly  sought  at  each 
of  its  Sunday  services  for  the  beautiful  organ  and 
vocal  music,  largely  due  to  the  efforts  of  the  late 


\ 


St.   Thomas's  Vested   Choir. 

gifted  organist  and  choirmaster,  George  William 
Warren.  The  choir  at  that  time  consisted  of 
mixed  voices,  but  some  two  years  ago  a  vested 
choir  of  men  and  boys  was  introduced,  which,  still 
striving  to  keep  up  to  the  high  standard  of  music 
of  earlier  times,  has  added  to  the  dignity  and 
ceremonial  of  the  church  service.  But  that  the 
efforts  of  St.  Thomas's  Church  are  not  merely  con- 
fined to  making  the  Sunday  services  worshipful 
and  attractive  to  its  large  congregation  is  clearly 
attested  in  its  Church  House  and  innumerable  re- 
ligious, educational,  social  and  philanthropic  organ- 
izations. This  parish,  in  its  work,  seeks  indeed 
the  spiritual  and  temporal  welfare  of  the  poor  of 
this  great  city  as  well  as  to  minister  to  the  needy 
rich. 

At  576  Lexington  Avenue,  corner  of  Fifty-first 
Street,  is  the  Pascal  Institute,  organized  in  1898, 
as  a  training  school  for  girls  obliged  to  leave 
school  to  become  wage-earners.  Here  they  are 
given  an  opportunity  for  learning  a  trade  to  their 
liking,  enabling  them  to  get  better  positions.  They 
are  trained  in  plain  sewing  and  dressmaking;  the 
course  in  dressmaking  lasting  nine  months,  and  in- 
cluding an  advanced  system  in  cutting  and  fitting. 

136 


St.  Thomas's  Chapel  on  the  East  Side. 

The  first  meeting  place  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  City  of  New  York  was,  in  1707,  in 
a  private  house  in  Pearl  Street,  near  the  Battery, 
after  which,  for  some  three  years,  services  were 
held  in  the  City  Hall;  but  by  1719  the  first  church 
building  was  erected  in  Wall  Street.  The  direct 
forerunner  of  the  present  Fifth  Avenue  Presby- 
terian Church  was  the  house  of  worship  in  Cedar 
Street,  between  Nassau  and  William,  whose  con- 
gregation subsequently  worshiped  at  Duane  and 
Church  Streets,  and  later  still  at  Fifth  Avenue  and 
Nineteenth  Street.  The  permanent  home,  how- 
ever, has  now  been  for  many  years  at  Fifth  Ave- 
nue and  Fifty-fifth  Street.  Today  all  phases  of 
what  is  termed  institutional  work  are  to  be  found 
in  its  affiliated  chapels,  missions,  schools,  societies 
and  summer   home. 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  crime  of  infanticide 
between  the  years  1848  and  1853  was  brought  to 
the  attention  of  the  public,  and  resulted  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Nursery  and  Child's  Hos- 
pital, now  at  Lexington  Avenue  and  Fifty-first 
Street,  by  public-spirited  and  charitable  women, 
as  the  first  place  planned  to  receive  foundlings. 
Destitute  mothers,  with  children  under  four  years 


137 


The  Better  New  York 

of  age,  are  received  and  cared  for  till  some  perma- 
nent help  can  be  found.  Almost  every  nation  is 
represented  in  the  lying-in  department,  and  little 
strangers,  from  a  Japanese  to  an  Indian  baby,  get 
their  tirst  view  of  life  within  its  walls.  For  many 
years  the  hospital  was  supported  through  private 
contributions  and  by  the  net  proceeds  of  that  soci- 
ety function  of  younger  New  York,  the  annual 
Charity  Ball. 

The  Babies'  Hospital,  at  Lexington  Avenue  and 
Fifty-tifth  Street,  is  a  handsome  building  of  seven 
and  one-half  stories.  A  ver>'  attractive  feature  of 
outdoor  decoration  are  the  window-boxes  full  of 
beautiful  plants  and  hanging  vines.  On  each  of 
the  principal  ward  doors  there  are  five  great  win- 
dows facing  south.  The  furniture  of  the  hospital 
has  some  original  features;  for  instance,  the  mat- 
tresses oi  the  beds  rest  upon  a  frame  which  can 
be  adjusted  to  any  height,  and  in  this  way  a  child 
can  be  raised  for  bathing,  dressing  or  examina- 
tion without  disturbing  its  covering.  On  the 
fourth  floor  are  model  nurseries  and  the  diet 
kitchen.  The  seventh  floor  has  one  special  attrac- 
tion, the  pride  of  the  hospital — a  large  solarium — 
which  affords  a  garden  and  a  playroom  for  older 
children  well  enough  to  be  brought  up  to  it,  while 
a  platform  is  placed  around  the  north  wall  to  re- 
ceive the  baskets  with  the  tiny  babies.  The  hos- 
pital was  incorporated  in  1887  for  the  care  of  poor, 
sick  children,  with  non-contagious  diseases,  under 
the  age  of  three  years.  It  now  has  a  training 
school  for  nursery  maids,  the  course  of  which  ex- 
tends over  eight  months,  and  affords  instruction 
in  the  diet  kitchen  and  model  nursery.  A  new  ex- 
periment has  been  tried  successfully  in  sendmg  a 
visiting  physician  to  the  homes  of  the  babies  who 
are  well  enough  to  leave  the  hospital,  but  yet  need 
wise  care  to  establish  permanent  health.  For  this 
purpose  the  physician  gives  instruction  in  prepar- 
ing food,  bathing,  ventilation  and  many  sanitary 
matters. 

At  301  East  Forty-nmth  Street,  near  Second 
Avenue,  the  New  York  Diet  Kitchen  Association 
maintains    the    Gibbons    Kitchen.      This    branch    is 

138 


Mrs. 

A.  H.  Gibtmns. 

(See  Index) 


named  in  honor  of  Mrs.  A.  H.  Gibbons,  who  was 
president  of  the  association  for  twenty-one  jears. 

A  feature  of  the  activity  of  the  Madison  Avenue 
RcforiTied  Church  is  the  Manhattan  Working 
Girls*  Society,  at  440  East  Fifty-seventh  Street. 
Though  non-sectarian,  this  society  differs  from  the 
•  rdinary  working  girls'  chib  in  that  not  onh'  op- 
■;  ---■■'- -'^s  of  education  are  afforded,  but  distinctly 
services  are  held.  Some  350  girls  join 
•'•^  life.  It  is  not  self-governing,  but 
r  the  charge  of  a  headworker,  who 
1^.-^  hy   firm,   yet   gentle,   influences   to 

higher  5:  A  living.     A  weekly  drill  in  gym- 

nastic ex.  .  .  s  given,  to  which  are  added  the 
pleasures  of  the  game  of  basket-ball.  A  roof- 
garden  in  pleasant  weather  is  of  great  good  to 
girls  housed  in  their  occupations  through  the  day, 
and  a  vacation  house  is  filled  by  the  club  members 
through  the  summer  months. 

An  historic  spot  in  New  York  is  occupied  by 
Grammar  School  135,  at  Fifty-first  Street  and 
First  Avenue.  It  was  on  this  site  that  the  Beek- 
man  House  stood  during  the  Revolution;  where 
Washington  had  his  headquarters  for  a  while;  and 
later  it  was  occupied  as  a  British  headquarters. 
Major  Andre  slept  there  the  night  before  he  went 
on  his  fatal  mission  to  meet  Benedict  Arnold.  It 
was  also  in  this  house  that  Nathan  Hale  slept  on 
the  night  before  he  was  hanged,  a  martyr  for  his 
country-. 


IJ9 


DIVISION  VII. 

Thirty-fourth  to  Fifty-sc7'cuth   Street,   West  of  Fifth 
Avenue. 

The  National  Arts  Club,  at  2>7  West  Thirty- 
fourth  Street,  is  the  outp^rowth  of  an  absolute  need 
for  an  organization  with  New  York  headquarters 
where  artists,  collectors  and  art  lovers  could  get 
together.  This  club  stands  for  the  promotion  of 
the  arts  and  crafts  in  order  to  improve  the  quality 
of  our  manufactures  and  to  stimulate  interest  in 
the  embellishment  of  cities  and  public  buildings. 
Under  this  roof  the  directors  of  the  National 
Sculpture  Society,  the  IMural  Painters,  the  New 
York  Municipal  Art  Commission,  and  those  of 
the  Municipal  Art  Societies  of  New  York  and 
other  cities  meet  to  confer.  Various  exhibitions 
of  the  arts  and  crafts  are  held,  attracting  thou- 
sands of  visitors  and  doing  much  to  stimulate  pub- 
lic interest. 

The  first  of  a  series  of  mission  chapels  which 
the  Trinity  corporation  erected  in  the  poorer  dis- 
tricts of  the  city  was  at  Seventh  Avenue  and 
Thirty-ninth  Street,  St.  Chrysostom's  Chapel.  It 
was  completed  in  1869,  a  Gothic,  brownstone 
structure. 

At  423  West  Forty-first  Street  the  New  York 
Diet  Kitchen  Association  maintains  the  RaymcMid 
Kitchen  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  the  ne:irby 
district. 

The  lodging  house  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society,  in  the  new  building  at  225  West  Thirty- 
fifth  Street,  is  the  ripe  fruit  of  the  good  seed  sown 
over  thirty-five  years  ago  by  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
father  of  the  President,  and  other  philanthropic 
men,  in  efforts  to  secure  for  the  newsboys  of  the 
city  some  comfortable  place  to  spend  their  nights. 
In  1884  the  late  John  Jacob  Astor  made  a  gift  of 

140 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 


$65,000  to  the  Children's  Aid  Society  for  this 
same  purpose.  This  was  used  to  buy  the  site  and 
erect  the  old  home  known  as  the  Newsboys'  West 
Side  Lodging  House,  which  has  now  been  sold  to 
the  Pennsylvania  Railway  at  such  an  advance  that 
not  only  has  a  new  house  for  the  boys  been  built, 
at  225  West  Thirty-fifth  Street,  but  an  extra  school 
established,  at  417  West  Thirty-eighth  Street.  In 
the  new  lodging  house  the  boys  pay  seven  cents 
for  a  good  meal  and  ten  cents  for  lodging,  and 
have  their  own  private  lockers.  There  are  many 
bathrooms  in  the  house,  and  a  swimming  pool  in 
the  basement. 

Manual  training  of  boys  receives  particular  at- 
tention where  the  institutional  work  of  the  Brick 
Presbyterian  Church  is  carried  on  in  the  parish 
house  adjoining  Christ  Church,  at  226  West 
Thirty-fifth  Street.  The  work  of  Christ  Church 
House  is  cramped  and  crowded  in  its  present 
quarters,  and  is  to  be  moved  into  the  Babcock 
Memorial  Building,  which  will  provide  almost 
ideal  facilities  for  all  institutional  church  work. 

Babcock  Memorial. 


;igtii|ffiiij^MSp"'^MMIii'iiiiMii'i^^ 


-q' 


ini 


The  Better  New  York 

On  Tenth  Avenue,  near  Thirty-fifth  Street,  is 
carried  on  much  of  the  institutional  work  of  the 
Broadway  Tabernacle.  A  characteristic  feature 
is  a  Chinese  Sunday-school.  The  old  Broadway 
Tabernacle  was  located  for  a  great  many  years  at 
Thirty-fourth  Street  and  Broadway. 

That  part  of  the  city  commonly  called  "Hell's 
Kitchen"  was  once  one  of  the  most  lawless  of 
communities,  where  murder  and  outrage  ran 
nightly  riot.  Through  the  work  of  just  such  in- 
stitutions as  the  Sunshine  Mission,  484  Eleventh 
Avenue,  near  Thirty-ninth  Street,  this  section  has 
been  made  one  of  decency  and  order. 

Close  by  the  waterside,  at  the  end  of  West 
Forty-second  Street,  is  the  reading-room  of  the 
New  York  Protestant  Episcopal  City  Mission  So- 
ciety, open  day  and  evening  for  all  who  wish  to 
make  use  of  its  advantages. 

In  addition  to  the  ordinary  educational  and  so- 
cial opportunities  offered  by  the  West  Side  Settle- 
ment, at  458  and  460  West  Forty-fourth  Street,  a 
boarding  house  is  carried  on  which  is  peculiarly 
adapted  for  working  women.  As  the  settlement 
is  under  the  charge  of  the  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tion  Association,  many  of  the  occupants  come 
through  the  directory  for  board,  found  at  its 
headquarters  at  7  East  Fifteenth  Street. 

At  226  West  Forty-second  Street  is  a  circula- 
ting library — the  George  Bruce  branch  of  the  New 
York  Public  Library.  The  building  itself  was  set 
up  in  1888  by  Miss  Catherine  Bruce  in  memory 
of  her  father.  This  is  one  of  the  branches  of 
the  New  York  Free  Circulating  Library,  whxh,  in 
1901,   became   part   of  the    Public   Library   System. 

At  the  junction  of  Broadway  and  Seventh  Ave- 
nue is  Long  Acre  Square,  connected  with  a  great 
crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  American  colonies.  On 
the  Barrington  Hotel,  which  is  on  the  west  side 
of  th.e  square,  is  a  tablet  commemoratmg  the  fact 
that  on  that  spot  General  George  Washington  and 
General  Putnam  held  a  hasty  interview.  Putnam 
was   in   command   of   a   small   reserve   force   in   the 

142 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

city.  The  Continental  Army  had  been  disas- 
trously l^eaten  on  Long  Island,  had  crossed  the 
East  River,  and  was  in  rapid  retreat  to  Harlem 
Heights.  The  British  Army,  flushed  with  success, 
had  halted  to  allow  General  Howe  and  his  officers 
to  accept  the  hospitality  of  INIrs.  Murray,  who 
lived  on  what  is  now  called  Murray  Hill.  General 
Washington  was  anxious  to  save  the  force  under 
General  Putnam,  which  was  still  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  city,  and  held  an  interview  with  him,  as  told 
by  the  tablet.  Later,  Putnam  marched  out  by 
way  of  the  winding  road,  on  the  line  of  the  present 
Eighth  Avenue,  and  joined  Washington,  which  he 
could  not  have  done  save  that  the  British  army 
was  delayed  by  Mrs.  Murray's  invitation,  tendered 
^or  that  very  purpose. 

Bryant  Park  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  city's 
small  parks.  In  1823,  when  the  Potters'  Field  at 
Washington  Square  was  abandoned,  a  pauper's 
burial  ground  was  established  where  Bryant  Park 
is  now,  the  land  having  been  purchased  by  the  city 
the  year  before.  The  Potters'  Field  remained 
there  for  about  ten  years,  when  it  was  removed 
further  up  the  island.  In  1842  a  reservoir  of 
Egyptian  architecture  was  built  in  the  park  to  re- 
ceive the  water  of  the  newly  built  Croton  aque- 
duct. This  spot  was  far  beyond  the  city  then, 
and  citizens  made  excursions  there  for  a  day's 
holiday.  In  1853,  in  the  western  portion  of  the 
park,  was  laid  out  the  World's  Fair,  in  imitation 
of  the  Crystal  Palace,  of  London,  intended  as  a 
permanent  exposition,  but  the  venture  failed,  and 
in  1858  the  buildings  were  destroyed  by  fire.  At 
that  time  it  had  been  given  the  name  of  Reservoir 
Square.  In  1884  the  name  was  changed  to  Bry- 
ant Park.  In  1899  began  the  tearing  down  of  the 
old  Egyptian  reservoir,  and  there  arose  where  it 
had  stood  a  great,  white  marble  building  of  Renais- 
sance architecture,  with  a  75-feet-wide  terrace,  ex- 
tending 445  feet  along  the  front,  the  permanent 
home  of  the  New  York  Public  Library.  This 
library  was  established  in  1895  by  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  Astor,  Lenox  and  Tilden  libraries,  and 
by  the  policy  of  the  trustees  it  has  become  a  great, 
free  library  system  for  the  use  of  the  people. 

14.^ 


The  Better  New  York 

Tn  1890  the  New  York  Free  Circulating  Li- 
brary became  a  part  of  the  Public  Library  system, 
and  in  1901,  when  Andrew  Carnegie  gave  $5,200,- 
000  towards  the  equipment  of  fifty  free  cir- 
culating libraries,  these  also  became  a  part  of  the 
great  system. 

The  Tilden  Trust,  which  is  part  of  the  library 
system,  was  created  in  1887  by  the  will  of  Samuel 
J.  Tilden,  wherein  his  entire  residuary  estate  was 
given  to  trustees  to  establish  a  library.  There 
were  years  of  litigation  over  the  estate,  ending  in 
a  compromise^  under  which  the  Tilden  trust  held 
$2,000,000  and  the  Tilden  Library  of  20,000  vol- 
umes. The  books  were  placed  in  the  Astor  and 
Lenox  Libraries,  and  the  fund  became  a  part  of  the 
New  York  Public  Library. 

To  provide  for  those  children  for  whom  the 
overcrowded  public  schools  have  no  place,  and  to 
keep  up  a  high  standard  of  kindergarten  work  that 
shall  serve  as  an  influence  and  a  model  to  others, 
this  is  the  aim  of  the  New  York  Kindergarten 
Association,  which  has  its  headquarters  at  29  West 
Forty-second  Street.  At  the  present  time  the  asso- 
ciation has  twenty-three  kindergartens  under  its 
charge,  many  of  which  are  memorials,  the  neces- 
sary maintaining  fund  being  paid  each  year  to  the 
association. 

Founded  by  William  Cullen  Bryant  for  the 
entertainment  of  artists  and  men  of* letters,  the 
Century  Association  now  occupies,  at  7  West 
Forty-third  Street,  a  building  of  granite,  marble, 
brick  and  terra  cotta,  Renaissance  in  style.  There 
is  a  picture  gallery  forty  feet  long,  with  a  water- 
color  room  at  each  end.  The  dominant  elements 
of  the  association  are  literary  and  artistic,  con- 
servative and  aesthetic.  There  is  a  library  which 
contains  a  number  of  books  of  art.  Originally 
the  club  was  called  the  Century,  because  it  was 
intended  to  have  only  one  hundred  members,  but 
that  number  was  exceeded  long  ago. 

Close  by,  at  17  West  Forty-third  Street,  is  the 
home  of  the  Academy  of  Aledicine,  a  striking 
structure     of     brownish-red     stone     architecturally 

144 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

Romanesque.     The   Academy   strives   for   the   ele- 
vation of  the  standard  of  medical  education. 

In  the  building  at  19  West  Forty-fourth  Street 
is  the  American  Institute,  which  since  1828  has 
encouraged  domestic  industry  in  the  United  States 
by  bestowing  rewards  on  persons  excelling  or  ma- 
king improvements  in  anything  affecting  agricul- 
ture, commerce,  manufactures  and  the  arts.  For 
many  years  it  held  a  largely-attended  annual  fair 
in  various  parts  of  the  city.  The  institute  has  a 
scientific  library,  a  farmers'  club,  a  horticultural 
section,  a  polytechnic  association — discusses  scien- 
tific subjects  and  examines  new  inventions;  a  pho- 
tographic section,  which  includes  all  matters  re- 
lating to  photography;  also  an  electrical  section. 
All  these  are  open  to  the  public. 

At  19  West  Forty-fourth  Street  is  the  Public 
Educational  Association,  organized  to  study  prob- 
lems of  public  education;  to  investigate  the  condi- 
tion of  the  common  and  corporate  schools;  to 
stimulate  public  interest  in  such  schools,  and  to 
propose  from  time  to  time  such  changes  in  organi- 
zation and  management  as  seem  necessary  or 
desirable. 

There  is  also  In  this  building  the  City  History 
Club,  of  New  York^  which  aims  to  stimulate  in- 
terest in  civic  affairs,  and  to  help  the  immigrant's 
child  and  the  child  of  generations  of  loyal  Ameri- 
cans to  the  responsibilities  of  citizenship.  Instruc- 
tion is  given  by  volunteer  and  paid  teachers.  An 
interesting  and  most  popular  feature  of  the  work 
are  the  club  excursions — visiting  the  various  parks, 
museums  and  public  buildings,  and  the  scenes  of 
events  famous  in  the  history  of  the  city. 

Here,  too,  across  the  way  in  this  street  are  the 
buildings  of  the  General  Society  of  Mechanics  and 
Tradesmen.  This  society  took  up  the  work  of 
education  about  the  year  1820.  When  their  school 
was  first  started,  it  was  intended  for  the  free  edu- 
cation of  poor  members  of  the  society  and  those 
who  were  left  orphans.  But  it  became  so  popular 
that  other  children  were  admitted  upon  the  pay- 
ment of  a  moderate  sum.     After  a  time,  however, 

145 


The  Better  New  York 

the  public  schools  seemed  to  make  its  existence 
unnecessary,  and  as  a  day  school  it  was  discon- 
tinued in  1858.  But  the  next  year  the  society  es- 
tablished an  evening  school,  to  give  instruction  to 
those  in  daily  occupations,  and  this  school  has  now 
grown  to  great  proportions,  and  classes  are  main- 
tained to  furnish  free  instruction  to  young  men  in 
free-hand,  cast  and  ornamental  drawing  (elemen- 
tary and  advanced),  in  mechanical  and  architec- 
tural drawing,  mathematics,  clay  modeling;  also 
classes  in  physics;  encouraging  students  to  acquire 
a  practical  knowledge  of  some  useful  trade.  The 
society  also  maintains  nineteen  free  scholarships 
in  the  New  York  Trade  School,  which  are  awarded 
annually  to  deserving  applicants. 

Free  medical  aid  and  sick-room  supplies  for  the 
suffering  and  destitute,  especially  children,  are 
provided  by  the  New  York  Practical  Aid  Society, 
at  311  West  Forty-fifth  Street.  This  society  also 
gives  fresh-air  excursions  to  the  poor  and  aids 
them  in  securing  employment.  There  are  sewing 
classes  and  home  talks  for  young  girls,  and  a 
strong  effort  is  made  toward  the  rescue  of  the  in- 
temperate and  fallen.    The  society  is  non-sectarian. 

At  409-413  West  Forty-sixth  Street  is  the  Hart- 
ley House,  an  incorporated  neighborhood  settle- 
ment, owning  the  three  beautifully  equipped  build- 
ings which  it  occupies.  It  is  considered  one  of  the 
best  settlements  in  the  city.  A  distinctive  feature 
is  the  aim  of  the  headworker  to  keep  in  touch  with 
each  child  who  leaves  the  afternoon  play  classes 
and  bc.Q^ins  daily  work  of  any  sort.  As  they  pass 
from  childhood  to  girlhood  much  care  is  taken  to 
get  them  to  come  to  the  settlement  at  least  one 
evening  a  week.  The  greater  numl)er  of  them 
care  merely  for  the  recreative  side,  and  a  dancing 
class  of  boys  and  girls  of  the  same  age  has  proved 
very  attractive.  The  dues  for  this  are  ten  cents 
a  month.  If  a  girl  is  more  studiously  inclined, 
she  joins  what  is  called  the  Travel  Class,  in  which 
by  means  of  photographs  and  simple  descriptions 
some  real  traveler  takes  the  girls  to  various  points 
of  interest. 

146 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

At  the  foot  of  West  Fiftieth  Street,  North  River, 
is  one  of  the  city's  Recreation  Piers. 

The  institutional  work  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Bap- 
tist Church  has  its  headquarters  ni  the  West  Side 
Neighborhood  House,  501  West  Fiftieth  Street. 
The  large  and  well-appointed  buiding  is  the  home, 
in  fact,  of  a  social  settlement.  Through  the  help 
of  a  head  worker  and  able  assistants,  there  is  car- 
ried on  a  day  nursery,  kindergartens,  classes  in 
the  gymnasium,  and  various  young  men's  and 
young  women's  clubs,  with  educational  and  social 
features.  The  industrial  side  for  girls  is  developed 
through  cooking,  dressmaking  and  millinery 
classes.  The  Fresh  Air  Fund  provides  for  two 
weeks'  outings  for  each  guest  at  an  out-of-town 
farm.  A  library  and  reading-room  add  to  the  ef- 
fectiveness of  the  work,  and  adjoining  the  neigh- 
borhood house  is  the  Armitage  Chapel,  through 
whose  services  the  religious  side  of  the  settlement 
work  is  emphasized. 

On  the  western  edge  of  the  city,  between  Fifty- 
second  and  Fifty-fourth  Streets,  beyond  Eleventh 
Avenue,  is  De  Witt  Clinton  Park.  The  buildings 
were  removed  from  this  park  in  1902,  and  it  is 
particularly  noted  for  the  fact  that  it  was  the  home 
of  the  lirst  Children's  School  Farm  of  New  York 
City,  conducted  under  the  supervision  of  the 
school  board.  For  the  purpose  a  piece  of  ground 
of  about  114  feet  by  84  feet  was  plowed  and 
laid  out  in  small,  numbered  plots  three  feet  by 
six.  Water  was  put  in  at  three  places,  and  a  fence 
three  feet  high  inclosed  the  whole.  Twenty-five 
children  at  a  time,  with  tags  corresponding  to  the 
number  of  the  plots,  were  first  instructed  by  a 
gardener  in  the  process  of  making  furj^ws,  put- 
ting the  seeds  in  and  covering  them.  They  were 
then  allowed  to  go  through  the  same  process  in 
their  own  bit  of  ground.  Seven  varieties  of  vege- 
tables were  planted:  corn  in  the  center,  and  on 
either  side  string  and  butter  beans,  peas,  radishes, 
turnips  and  lettuce,  the  whole  farm  being  sur- 
rounded by  a  border  of  buckwheat.  The  farm 
grew  to  perfection  under  proper  instruction,  and 
the  boy  whose  activity  had  been  once  merely  de- 

147 


The  Better  New  York 

structive  was  taught  a  valuable  lesson  in  construc- 
tion and  care.  Through  the  efforts  of  those  who 
successfully  developed  this  first  farm,  the  experi- 
mental stage  may  be  said  to  have  been  passed,  and 
the  operation  of  like  farms  in  the  future  will  be 
a  much  simpler  matter.  A  gymnasium  was  also 
erected  in  the  park,  equipped  with  everything 
needful  for  scientific  exercise. 

More  than  400  children  a  day  attend  the  In- 
dustrial School  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society,  at 
552  West  Fifty-third  Street.  Lessons  in  cooking 
and  carpentry  are  added  to  the  usual  primary 
teaching.  That  the  baths  and  dinners  provided 
have  been  appreciated  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
about  3,000  baths  have  been  taken  in  one  year, 
and  meals  served  in  the  same  time  have  been  over 
36,000.  In  this  same  building  there  is  an  evening 
school  for  girls,  where  seven  teachers  are  em- 
ployed among  the  300  odd  pupils,  and  hundreds 
of  garments  are  made  up  in  the  dressmaking  class 
during  the  year. 


Making  Good  Americans. 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

At  the  Vermilye  Mission,  416  West  Fifty-fourth 
Street,  are  industrial  classes  and  kindergarten, 
fresh-air  summer  work,  mission  committee,  relief 
committee,  woman's  missionary  society  and  the 
like.  It  is  supported  by  the  Collegiate  Church, 
West  End  Avenue  and  Seventy-seventh  Street, 
in  conjunction  with  the  Collegiate  Church  at  Forty- 
eighth  Street,  and  is  in  the  Helping  Hand  Building. 

At  312  West  Fifty-fourth  Street  is  the  Amity 
Baptist  Church,  and  next  door  is  Amity  Hall,  the 
home  of  Amity  Settlement.  Here  are  carried  on, 
among  other  things,  a  daily  kindergarten  and 
monthly  mothers'  meetings.  Here,  also,  are  a 
hall  for  social  entertainments  and  a  school  which 
affords  free  theological  instruction  to  men  and 
women  anxious  to  fit  themselves  by  broad  and  ear- 
nest study  for  missionaries  or  practical  religious 
workers  in  various  fields.  This  hall  is  also  the 
headquarters  of  the  Baptist  Deaconess  Society  of 
New  York,  the  object  of  which  is  to  train  young 
women  as  efficient  teachers,  nurses  and  spiritual 
helpers  to  the  poor  and  needy,  and  to  give  them 
a  home  until  called  to  a  field  of  activity. 

At  141  West  Fifty-fourth  Street  is  the  New 
York  American  Veterinary  College,  which  became 
a  part  of  the  New  York  University,  in  1899, 
through  the  union  of  the  New  York  College  of 
Veterinary  Surgeons  and  the  American  Veter- 
inary College,  which  was  effected  to  advance  the 
standard  of  veterinary  education. 

Among  the  earliest  free  industrial  schools  for 
crippled  children  was  one  opened  in  October,  1900, 
the  William  H.  Davis  School,  and  now  in  excel- 
lent quarters  at  471  West  Fifty-seventh  Street.  As 
in  the  schools  of  the  same  kind  maintained  by  the 
Children's  Aid  Society,  it  is  demonstrated  that 
crippled  children  can  be  taught  not  only  amusing 
and  interesting  work,  but  that  which  leads  to  self- 
support.  They  have  gradually  advanced  from  bas- 
ket-weaving to  most  artistic  work  in  fire-etching 
on  wood  and  leather.  Carpentry  work  and  count- 
less practical  and  marketable  articles  are  the  work 
of  their  hands.     A  nurse  is  in  daily  attendance  at 

149 


The  Better  New  York 

the  school,  and  a  hot  dinner  is  given  each  child. 
The  care  of  the  crippled  children  is  not  confined 
to  the  winter  months.  June,  July  and  August  are 
spent  in  the  country  on  a  farm  with  teachers  and 
nurses. 

In  1867  a  small  work  was  begun  under  Chris- 
tian auspices  for  the  benefit  of  medical  students, 
and  in  1887  a  regular  organization  was  formed  with 
broad  and  progressive  methods.  This  (called  the 
Students'  ]\Iovement)  became  a  part  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  the  next  year.  This 
branch  now  owns  its  own  clubhouse  at  129  Lexing- 
ton Avenue  and  rents  one  at  328  West  Fifty-sixth 
Street  for  its  special  use.  Both  these  houses  have 
dormitories,  restaurants,  baths  and  gymnasium, 
rooms  for  social  meetings  and  reading-rooms.  In 
this  way  it  furnishes  to  the  homeless  student  in 
New  York  a  Christian  home  and  fraternity  life  in 
the  clubhouses.  Medical  students  are  perhaps  still 
in  the  majority,  but  college,  law,  pharmacy  and 
art  men  are  all  enrolled  on  its  books. 

At  318  West  Fifty-seventh  Street  is  the  West 
Side  Branch  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, which  has  as  special  features  a  perfect 
gymnasium  and  an  open-air  athletic  field,  used 
even  at  night  by  the  plentiful  employment  of  pow- 
erful arc  lights.  Besides  these,  there  are  baths 
of  the   most   approved   pattern,    and   a   restaurant. 

When  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
of  New  York  City,  was  formed,  in  1852,  one  of 
its  first  efforts  was  the  beginning  of  a  library. 
This  library  has  had  successive  homes  since  its 
lirst  one  in  Stuyvesant  Institute,  at  659  Broadway, 
to  its  present  abiding  place,  which  is  on  the  Fifty- 
sixth  Street  side  of  the  building,  which  forms  the 
quarters  of  the  West  Side  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  The  library  contains  some  69,000  vol- 
umes, and  is  open  daily. 

At  414  West  Fifty-fourth  Street  is  an  industrial 
school,  one  of  the  twelve  situat'^d  in  various  parts 
of  the  city,  provided  by  the  Home  for  the  Friend- 
less. (See  Ind^x,  American  Female  Guardian 
Society.) 

150 


Home  of  the  Friendless. 

For  the  purpose  of  providing  a  permanent  home 
for  three  societies,  the  Architectural  League,  the 
Art  Students'  League  and  the  Society  of  American 
Artists,  the  Fine  Arts  Building,  215  West  Fifty- 
seventh  Street,  was  erected  in  1891  under  the 
supervision  of  the  American  Fine  Arts  Society, 
organized  in  1889.  The  handsome  building  is  four 
stories  high,  containing  picture  galleries,  studios 
for  instruction  and  offices.  In  1892  Mr.  George 
Vanderbilt  gave  the  American  Fine  Arts  Society 
land  and  necessary  funds  for  the  erection  of  the 
Vanderbilt  Gallery,  which  adjoins  the  principal 
building,  and  is  practically  a  reproduction  of  the 
Georges  Petit  Gallery  in  Paris. 

The  Society  of  American  Artists,  which  now 
has  its  home  in  the  Fine  Arts  Building,  was  or- 
ganized in  1877,  offering  to  artists  an  opportunity 
for  a  second  exhibition  of  their  work  after  that 
of  the  Academy,  for  which  purpose  it  holds  an 
annual  exhibition.  The  society  is  also  a  promoter 
of  social  intercourse  amongst  its  members,  particu- 
larly artists  of  similar  views  and  ideas. 

The  Architectural  League,  incorporated  i88r, 
another   of  the  three   original  societies   housed  in 


T.=;x 


The  Better  New  York 

the  same  building,  has  for  its  aim  the  advancement 
of  architecture  and  allied  arts.  In  its  annual  ex- 
hibition it  does  not  limit  itself  to  American  ex- 
hibits, but  welcomes  those  from  all  over  the 
world. 

The  third  society  of  this  original  group,  the  Art 
Students'  League,  is  an  academic  school  of  art, 
which  furnishes  a  thorough  course  of  instruction 
in  drawing,  modeling,  artistic  anatomy  and  com- 
position, with  studies  from  life  and  from  the  an- 
tique. Men  and  women  admitted  as  members  must 
have  adopted  art  as  a  profession,  though  its  classes 
are  open  to  all  students  who  have  reached  the 
required  standing  in  drawing. 

Besides  the  three  societies,  various  others  have 
their  headquarters  in  the  Fine  Arts  Building.  One 
particularly  worthy  of  notice  is  the  Municipal  Art 
Society.  As  an  initiator  in  the  movement  for  civic 
embellishment,  this  society  was  organized  in  1893, 
and  has  gradually  advanced  in  public  recognition 
till  it  has  now  received  formal  official  sanction,  and 
is  the  acknowledged  judge  of  the  aesthetic  forms 
which  public  improvements  shall  take.  Through 
its  work  were  provided  the  important  mural  deco- 
rations with  allegorical  paintings  by  Edward  Sim- 
mons for  the  Supreme  Court  room  in  the  Criminal 
Court  Building,  in  Center  Street,  and  to  its  experts 
was  committed  the  designing  of  the  street  signs, 
to  be  combined  with  fixtures  for  lighting,  now  in 
use.  To  encourage  original  work  for  the  adorn- 
ment of  the  city,  the  society  undertakes  to  orig- 
inate and  conduct  competitions  for  works  of  art, 
though  it  does  not  pay  for  the  actual  execution, 
as,  for  instance,  competitions  were  held  and  prizes 
awarded  for  the  designs  for  the  public  shelter  at 
Sixty-ninth  Street  and  Broadway,  and  also  for  a 
drinking  fountain  and  ornamental  bronze  standards 
for  the  City  Hall.  The  Municipal  Art  Society  has 
done  much  to  preserve  the  beauty  of  the  Palisades 
to  New  York,  and  it  has  vigorously  opposed  the 
use  of  objectionable  signs  and  advertisements. 
Under  its  management  was  held,  in  1902,  the  first 
Municipal  Arts   Exhibition  in  the  United  States. 

An  active  organization,  devoted  to  maintaining 
a  high  standard  of  work  in  its  field  of  art,  is  the 

IS2 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

National  Sculptors'  Society  at  this  same  address. 
It  has  also  interested  itself  in  municipal  art,  and 
has  made  a  collection  of  works  in  bronze,  known 
as  the  Warner  Memorial,  and  presented  it  to  the 
Metropolitan   Museum. 

A  union  of  societies,  formed  in  1895,  holds  its 
meetings  in  the  Fine  Arts  Building.  This  is  the 
Fine  Arts  Federation,  brought  together  for  united 
action  among  the  art  societies  of  the  city  in  all 
matters  of  common  interest,  and  also  to  foster  and 
protect  in  the  community  all  artistic  interests. 

The  branch  of  the  Young  IMen's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, at  252  West  Fifty-third  Street,  consists  en- 
tirely of  colored  young  men,  who  carry  on  the 
regular  association  work. 

The  administration  of  the  Health  Department 
affects  directly  the  physical  well-being  of  every  in- 
habitant of  the  city.  The  Board  of  Health  of  the 
City  of  New  York  was  created  b\'  special  statute 
in  1866.  Epidemics  were  then  frequent,  and  the 
average  number  of  deaths  annually  was  no  less 
than  ^s  for  every  1,000  inhabitants.  A  comparison 
of  this  rate  with  that  under  the  active  and  efficient 
department  of  today,  when  the  death  rate  is  only 
18.74  for  the  present  City  of  New  York,  indicates 
clearly  the  necessity  of  such  a  department.  The 
chief  offices  of  the  department  are  in  a  building  in 
Sixth  Avenue,  at  Fifty-fifth  Street,  and  here  also 
there  are  a  dispensary,  a  chemical  laboratory  and 
a  b?  .ceriological  diagnosis  laboratory.  Other 
branches  of  the  department  are  a  reception  hos- 
pital at  the  foot  of  East  Sixteenth  Street,  for  infec- 
tious diseases;  and  quarters  at  70  Elm  Street, 
where  there  is  a  vaccination  station.  On  North 
Brother  Island,  in  the  East  River,  opposite  138th 
Street,  there  is  a  hospital  for  the  isolation  and 
treatment  of  smallpox,  scarlet  fever  and  measles. 


153 


Grant's  Monument  from  Across  the  Park. 

DIVISION  VIII. 

Fifty-scz'cnth  to  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street,  West 
of  Fifth  Avenue   (including  Central  Park). 


In  the  matter  of  city  parks  there  are  three 
periods  of  development.  The  first  marked  by  the 
creation  of  Central  Park  in  1853,  the  second  with 
the  laying  out  of  Riverside  Park  in  1872,  and  the 
third  by  the  commencement  of  the  work  of  creat- 
ing small  parks  in  1887.  Of  course,  there  were 
parks  in  the  city  long  years  before  the  first  date 
mentioned,  but  in  those  earlier  days  there  was  not 
the  great  need  for  them  that  arose  when  the  pop- 
ulation of  the  city  became  congested. 

The  first  park  space  was  the  Bowling  Green. 
The  next  was  the  spot  that  we  now  call  City  Hall 
Park,  which,  in  the  times  that  the  English  ruled 
in  New  York,  was  the  common  ground  where  cat- 
tle were  herded.  Washington  Square  now  covers 
ground  that  was  once  a  paupers'  graveyard.  Mad- 
ison Square  and  Bryant  Park  had  the  same  origin. 

Central  Park  was  first  planned  in  the  year  1850, 
when  the  people  of  the  city  realized  that  there  was 
needed  a  great  central  recreation  point. 

Riverside  Park  was  laid  out  in  1872,  when  the 
citizens  concluded  that  there  should  be  a  recrea- 
tion   spot    near    the    picturesque    Hudson    River, 

154 


Bits  of  Nature  in  a   Nearby  Park. 


which  would  otherwise  be  given  over  to  factories 
and  docks. 

In  1887  began  the  work  of  creating  smaller 
parks  in  crowded  localities  where  the  masses  were 
so  closely  huddled  that  they  were  never  able  to 
get  proper  light  and  air;  for  the  larger  parks  were 
so  far  away  that  it  took  hours  of  travel  to  reach 
them.  In  1897,  Mayor  Strong's  Small  Park  Com- 
mission was  appointed,  and  strongly  advocated 
more  of  these  playgrounds  for  children,  and  recre- 
ation spots  for  the  people,  and,  as  a  result  of  their 
suggestions  and  their  work,  five  additional  parks 
were  laid  out  and  arrangements  made  for  others. 

The  more  important  features  1:1  park  develop- 
ment during  the  last  few  years  have  been  the 
kindergartens,  areas  for  recreation,  playgrounds, 
gymnasiums  and  band  concerts.  In  connection 
with  this  last  work  a  special  effort  has  been  made 
to  have  the  music  rendered  by  the  bands  of  a  char- 
acter elevating  and  instructive,  as  well  as  enter- 
taining. In  the  various  parks  of  the  city  about 
175  concerts  are  given  in  the  course  of  a  summer. 

New  York,  with  a  population  of  three  and  a 
half  millions  and  209,218  acres,  has  a  park  area 
of  6,837  acres.  The  expenditure  for  park  main- 
lenance  and  operation  is  something  over  a  million 


155 


The  Better  New  York 

and  a  quarter  dollars,  and  the  assets  in  parks  are 
$360,000,000. 

Central  Park  naturally  comes  first,  as  being  the 
greatest  of  all  the  city  parks.  In  1850,  a  citizen 
wrote  to  one  of  the  papers,  calling  attention  to 
the  need  of  just  such  a  park.  Ambrose  C.  Kings- 
land,  then  mayor,  was  so  taken  with  the  sugges- 
tion that  he  sent  a  special  message  to  the  Com- 
mon Council  advocating  it.  In  185 1,  through  the 
legislature,  the  city  was  given  the  right  to  acquire 
ground,  and  a  committee  selected  a  plot  known  as 
Jones'  Woods,  on  the  far  East  Side,  above  Sixty- 
sixth  Street.  This  plot,  however,  was  rejected 
for  one  more  central,  and  the  legislature,  in  1853, 
passed  an  act  giving  authority  for  the  acquisition 
of  the  present  Central  Park. 

The  site  at  that  time  was  some  distance  beyond 
the  city,  a  wild,  primitive,  rocky  spot,  part  wood- 
land, part  lakes,  part  meadows.  There  were  some 
few  houses  in  the  region,  but  not  a  great  man}^ 
The  idea  from  the  start  was  to  retain  the  natural 
formation  of  the  land.  The  area  of  ground  is 
83Q.921  acres.  It  is  two  and  a  half  miles  long  and 
half  a  mile  wide.  Originally  the  land  cost  some- 
thing over  $5,000,000;  to  cultivate  and  maintain  it 
has  cost  $20,000,000.  The  value  of  the  land  is  now 
estimated  at  more  than  $200,000,000.  It  has  about 
ten  miles  of  drives,  and  more  than  five  miles  of 
bridle  roads,  with  thirty-one  miles  of  walk.  The 
grounds  contain  lakes,  conservatories  and  a  me- 
nagerie. 

The  building  called  the  Arsenal,  which,  during 
the  Civil  War,  was  really  an  arsenal,  and  years  ago 
was  turned  over  to  the  city,  is  used  for  the  most 
part  as  the  executive  quarters  of  the  Department 
of  Parks.  This  Park  Board  establishes  rules  for 
the  department's  administration,  and  enforce 
rules  (subject  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen)  for  the 
care  and  protection  of  the  park  system  generally. 
In  this  same  Arsenal  Building  is  the  Meteoro- 
logical Observatory  of  the  park  department,  which 
has  been  in  existence  since  1869.  This  was  be- 
fore the  United  States  Government  used  the 
Storm  Signal  Corps,  and  it  was  of  this  observatory 
that  the  Government  asked  co-operation  in  estab- 

156 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

llshing  the  national  organization.  The  detail 
work  of  the  observatory  has  been  continued  all 
these  years  without  interruption,  not  a  day  being 
missed,  including  all  holidays  and  Sundays,  and 
the  records  for  all  this  period,  obtained  through 
various  self-recording  instruments,  are  available 
to  the  general  public.  There  is  a  record  for  all 
this  time  of  the  direction  of  the  wind  for  each  day, 
the  velocity  of  the  wind,  the  force  of  the  wind,  the 
temperature,  a  record  of  rain  and  snow,  and  so  on. 

One  of  the  purposes  for  which  the  Park  has 
been  used  in  recent  years  is  that  of  nature  study 
by  the  people.  Those  who  have  taken  up  the 
study  of  birds,  insect  life  or  botany,  here  find 
every  facility  for  pursuing  their  work,  and  the 
department  does  everything  in  its  power  to  assist 
in  this  use  of  the  grounds.  Much  thought  has 
been  given  by  the  department  to  provide  facilities 
for  recreative  purposes.  In  spring  there  are  chil- 
dren's parties,  when  a  quarter  of  a  million  children 
are  present  in  a  single  day,  coming  from  all  parts 
of  the  city,  and  often  from  far  beyond.  The  Park 
also  afTords  a  great  deal  of  healthful  recreation: 
skating,  lawn  tennis,  basket  ball  and  other  games. 

Tn  Central  Park,  opposite  the  Eighty-third 
Street  entrance,  at  Fifth  Avenue,  is  the  ]\Ietropoli- 
tan  Museum  of  Art.  It  had  its  beginning  in  1869, 
when  a  committee  of  citizens  decided  to  found  an 
institution  for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  a  love 
of  art.  In  its  earlier  years  the  museum  was  not 
permanently  settled,  until  finally  the  legislature 
author^'zed  the  park  department  to  erect  a  perma- 
nent home  in  Central  Park,  and  set  apart  a  tract 
of  eighteen  acres,  when  the  museum  was  opened 
in  1880.  The  of^cers  are  elected  annually  by  the 
corporation,  and  the  controller  of  the  city,  the 
president  of  the  Department  of  Public  Works,  and 
the  president  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design 
are,  ex  officio,  members  of  the  board  of  trustees. 
Valuable  works  of  art  may  be  purchased,  and  very 
often  whole  collections  ?ire  donated. 

During  the  year  1902  there  was  opened,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  original  building,  what  is  called  the 
east  wing.  This  now  constitutes  the  main  entrance 
and  the  central  portion  of  the  building.    It  is  beau- 

157 


The  Better  New  York 

tiful  and  classic  in  design,  having  a  great  hall  cov- 
ered by  three  enormous  domes,  pierced  at  the  top 
to  furnish  light  for  its  extensive  corridors,  gal- 
leries and  exhibition-rooms. 

The  notable  gifts  and  loan  collections  at  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  are  the  Marquand,  Wolfe, 
Hearn,  Menke  and  Vanderbilt,  and,  in  addition,  it 
contains  many  valuable  individual  gifts  and  loans. 

Something  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci's  art  is  shown 
by  a  "Portrait  of  a  Lady,"  and  there  are  these 
paintings  of  Rubens:  "Ihe  Holy  Family,"  "Su- 
sannah and  the  Elders,"  "Pyramus  and  fhisbe," 
"Cambyses'  Punishment  of  an  Unjust  Judge," 
"Portrait  of  a  Man,"  "Portrait  of  the  Artist's 
Wife,"  and  "The  Return  of  the  Holy  Family 
from  Egypt."  A  portrait  of  Velazquez,  painted 
by  himself,  is  a  line  representation  of  his  style. 
Of  Rembrandt's  art  there  are  four  specimens,  his 
"Portrait  of  a  Man,"  illustrating  the  qualities  for 
which  he  is  famous.  From  Van  Dyck's  brush 
there  are  six  paintings,  notable  among  which  is 
his  famed  portrait  of  "James  Stuart.  Duke  of 
Richmond  and  Lenox."  A  general  idea  of  Hol- 
bein's style  can  be  seen  in  the  panel  picture  of  the 
"Archbishop  Cranmer."  Of  the  works  of  the 
inventors  of  oil  paintings,  Jan  and  Hubert  Van 
Eyck,  a  few  examples  are  to  be  found,  among  them 
being  the  "Virgin  and  Child,"  by  Jan  Van  Eyck. 
Three  of  Cuyp's  "Landscapes  with  Cattle,"  are 
to  be  studied,  and  Teniers'  colormg  and  touch  ap- 
preciated through  a  number  of  his  paintings,  also 
the  landscape  art  of  Claude  Lorrain  in  "A  Sea- 
port." Of  the  English  Hogarth  there  is  but  one 
example,  in  a  portrait  of  a  child  called  "Miss  Rich 
Building  a  House  of  Cards,"  but  among  pictures 
which  represent  the  work  of  the  great  English 
portrait  painters  there  are  two  portraits  by  Sir 
Peter  Lcly,  one  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  one  by 
Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  eight  by  the  world-famed 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  and  two  portraits  and  a 
landscape  by  his  rival,  Gainsborough.  Of  later 
English  painters,  some  rich  work  is  exhibited  in 
half  a  dozen  of  Lord  J^^rederick  Leighton's  paint- 
int^s,  one  of  Landseer's,  several  of  Alma-Tadema's, 
Millais'     and     Boughton's.      Turner's   greatness   is 

158 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

appreciated     in     half     a     dozen     of    his    paintino^s. 

Among  many  celebrated  names  of  Continental 
artists,  whose  paintings  could  be  enumerated,  are 
the  great  Germans,  Knaus,  Scheffer,  Israels,  Van 
Marcke  and  Verboeckhaven. 

In  the  many  French  painters  whose  works  hang 
on  the  walls  of  the  Museum,  fine  examples  of  the 
latter-day  paintings  are  to  be  seen,  and  among 
the  earlier  notable  ones  are  such  as  "Joan  of  Arc," 
by  Bastien-Lepage,  whose  realism  almost  created 
a  revolution  in  the  methods  of  the  time. 

Of  that  famous  woman  Rosa  Bonheur's  art, 
there  are  some  line  examples.  The  huge  canvas 
of  her  great  early  work,  the  "Horse  Fair,"  quickly 
attracts  the  visitor,  as  the  horses  are  life-size. 

From  "Holland  Cattle,"  and  "Study  of  a 
White  Cow,"  the  work  of  Troyon,  another  of 
the  greatest  cattle  painters,  may  be  studied.  The 
naturalist  school  is  finely  represented  in  many 
beautiful  pictures  by  Rousseau,  Corot,  Dupre, 
Daubigny,  and  among  Millet's  pictures  "The 
Sower"  attracts  great  attention. 

Meissonier's  technical  achievement  in  minute 
work  is  shown  in  some  dozen  pictures,  and  among 
these  his  battle  scene,  "Friedland,  1807,"  is  note- 
worthy from  its  unusual  size.  Several  of  the  al- 
ways popular  Bouguereau's  pictures  are  to  be 
found,  and  Domingo,  Gerome,  Detaille,  Vibert, 
and  a  like  host  of  fine  artists,  require  special  atten- 
tion. The  remarkable  individuality  of  George  In- 
ness,  the  pride  of  New  York,  can  be  studied  here 
in  his  paintings,  "Autumn  Oaks,"  "Evening,"  and 
''Peace  and  Plenty."  The  earlier  American  por- 
trait painters,  Gilbert  Stuart,  Daniel  Huntington, 
Henry  Inman  and  Thomas  Sully  are  all  repre- 
sented, and  from  Sargent's  brush  there  is  the 
portrait  of  Henry  Marquand. 

Among  the  celebrated  pieces  of  statuary  are 
Rheinhart's  beautiful  "Latona  and  her  children, 
Apollo  and  Diana"  (before  which  is  always  gath- 
ered an  admiring  crowd),  Powers'  "Fisher  Boy," 
and  "California,"  representing  the  figure  of  an 
exquisitely  proportioned  woman;  several  notable 
female  figures  by  Story,  among  which  are  Medea, 
Cleopatra   and    Semiramis;    also    Palmer's    "White 

159 


The  Better  New  York 

Captive,"  and  ''Indian  Maid";  Harriet  Hosmer's 
majestic  figure,  "Zenobia  in  Chains";  "Nydia,"  by 
Randolph  Rogers;  "Sappho,"  by  d'Epinay,  a 
strong,  well  conceived  and  admirably  executed 
work.  A  subject  to  be  carefully  studied  is  Auguste 
Rodin's  bust  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  Here  also 
are  to  be  found  some  specimens  of  the  famous 
sculptor  Canova's  work,  including  "Napoleon  I."; 
also  a  group  by  the  famous  noted  French  sculptor, 
Barye,  entitled  "Theseus  and  the  Centaur  Bienor." 

Among  the  plaster  casts  are  absolutely  accurate 
reproductions  of  some  of  the  most  noted  speci- 
mens of  ancient  sculpture,  beginning  with  the  ear- 
liest Egyptian  art.  The  collection  of  bronzes,  in 
reproduction  of  those  unearthed  at  Herculaneum 
not  many  years  ago,  form  a  valuable  section  by 
themselves. 

There  are,  too,  reproductions  of  ancient  archi- 
tecture. Among  other  beautiful  specimens  are  the 
classic  Parthenon,  in  its  original  purity  and  per- 
fection of  outline;  the  Roman  Pantheon,  in  the 
architecture  of  the  da}^ — a  combination  of  the 
Greek  and  purely  Roman — and  the  church  of 
Notre  Dame  de  Paris,  one-twentieth  the  size  of 
(ihe  original,  perfect  in  finish,  showing  the  famous 
square  towers  and  the  red  door. 

There  are  antiquities  from  Egypt  and  Cyprus, 
possessing  rare  archaeological  interest.  The  Ces- 
nola  collection,  from  the  Island  of  Cyprus,  is  of 
great  interest  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  un- 
usual and  the  strange. 

Other  rooms  are  devoted  to  porcelains,  Ameri- 
can antiquities,  pottery,  fans,  embroideries,  laces 
and  tapestries,  old  furniture  and  musical  instru- 
ments of  all  nations. 

In  Central  Park,  near  the  IMetropolitan  Mu- 
seum, Fifth  Avenue  and  Eighty-third  Street, 
stands  the  great  obelisk.  It  was  erected  in  Egypt 
3)500  years  before  Rome  was  built,  and  while 
the  Israelites  were  m  bondage.  It  was  presented 
by  the  Khedive  Ismail  Pasha  to  the  City  of 
New  York,  and  was  brought  here  by  a  vessel 
specially  fitted  up  for  the  purpose.  The  obelisk 
is  cut  from  one  solid  block  of  granite  seventy  feet 

i6o 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

high,  weighing  40,000  pounds.  It  is  covered 
with  hieroglyphics  ilkistrating  the  deeds  and  titles 
of  the  King  of  Egypt  at  that  time. 

One  of  the  spots  of  historic  interest  in  Central 
Park  is  INIcGowan's  Pass,  on  the  eastern  side,  near 
the  northern  limit.  There  is  a  reminder  of  the 
year  1776,  and  of  the  day  before  the  Battle  of 
Harlem  Heights.  On  that  day  a  portion  of  the 
British  forces  landed  from  Long  Island,  at  Thirty- 
fourth  Street,  in  pursuit  of  the  American  army, 
v\^hich  was  in  rapid  retreat  in  the  direction  of  Har- 
lem Heights,  and  encountered  in  their  chase  the 
farm  of  Daniel  McGowan,  which  was  almost  de- 
serted, as  its  owner  was  then  serving  in  the  Amer- 
ican army.  One  son,  however,  Andrew,  a  boy  of 
twelve,  was  still  there,  and  was  compelled  to  ac- 
company the  British  as  a  guide,  to  disclose  the 
whereabouts  of  the  American  camp.  The  boy, 
with  assumed  gayet}^  led  the  British  army  across 
^Manhattan  Island,  in  quite  another  direction  from 
that  which  the  Americans  had  retreated.  In  this 
way,  while  they  were  floundering  over  the  hills  and 
swamps  of  the  region,  now  Lower  Riverside  Park, 
Washington's  army  had  time  to  reach  its  destina- 
tion, and  prepare  for  the  great  victory  of  the  next 
day. 

Near  the  same  spot  there  are  remains  of  earth- 
works used  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  the  site  of  Lort 
Clinton  is  between  io6th  and  107th  Streets,  near 
Fifth  Avenue.  A  pole  on  the  top  of  the  hill  marks 
the  spot,  and  near  the  pole  are  several  old  can- 
non. During  the  war  of  1812,  Fort  Fish  guarded 
McGowan's  Pass  on  the  west,  and  Fort  Clinton 
on  the  east,  but  there  is  now  nothing  left  of  Fort 
Fish.  There  is,  however,  an  old  blockhouse  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Park  near  iioth  Street. 
This  was  built  in  1812,  and  was  the  most  north- 
ern point  of  the  fortilications  of  McGowan's  Pass. 

At  Sixtieth  Street  and  Columbus  Avenue  is 
the  Church  of  St.  Paul  the  Apostle.  Under  its 
charge  are  the  Paulist  Social  Settlement,  at  Tenth 
Avenue  and  Fifty-ninth  Street,  the  Guild  Club 
House,  at  17  West  Sixty-first  Street,  Young  Men's 
Society  Rooms,  34  East  Sixtieth  Street;  also  day 
nursery   classes   and  kindergartens;  the   Columbus 

i6i 


■  —  i-^"?"* 


m 


"iu  jjT^r^R^ 


Roosevelt  Hospital. 

Press  for  printing  the  literature  disseminated  by 
the  church,  and  various  guilds,  associations  and 
societies. 

Roosevelt  Hospital,  built  by  endowment, 
through  the  will  of  James  Henry  Roosevelt,  occu- 
pying the  block  of  ground  between  Fifty-eighth 
and  Fifty-ninth  streets  and  Ninth  and  Tenth  Ave- 
nues, was  opened  in  1871.  All  the  beds  in  the 
wards  are  free  to  those  who  have  very  limited  or 
no  means,  but  a  reasonable  rate  is  charged  to  such 
as  can  pay.  A  notable  feature  is  the  Syms  Oper- 
ating Building  erected  by  the  gift  of  $350,000, 
equipped  with  the  most  modern  appliances  for  the 
aseptic  treatment  of  operative  cases  and  consid- 
ered perfect  in  its  character  In  addition  a  hos- 
pital known  as  a  Private  Patients'  Pavillion,  of 
hve  stories,  was  opened  in  1896.  In  1899  the  new 
Accident  Building  was  opened,  having  on  the  first 
story  an  emergency  department  for  the  treatment 
of  accident  cases,  and  on  the  second  story,  a  med- 
ical ward  for  children.  There  is  a  very  efficient 
training  school   for  nurses. 

The  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  stand- 
ing across  the  street  from  Roosevelt  Hospital  in 
Fifty-ninth  Street,  was  chartered  in  1807,  and  in 
i8gi  became  a  part  of  Columbia  University,  which 
has  made  the  medical  department  an  integral  part 
of  the  University  system.  The  college  occupies 
a  group  of  buildings  given  by  the  late  William  11. 
Vanderbilt,  his  three  sons  and  by  William  D. 
Sloane. 

162 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

Grace  Institute,  at  149  West  Sixtieth  Street,  as 
founded  by  William  R.  Grace,  is  designed  to  fur- 
nish women  and  girls  instruction  in  trades,  in  do- 
mestic arts  and  sciences,  and  practical  knowledge 
of  all  kinds. 

Foundlings  and  other  infant  children  of  two 
years  of  age  and  under  are  received,  cared  for 
and  educated  at  the  New  York  Infant  Asylum, 
at  West  Sixty-tirst  Street  and  Amsterdam  Avenue. 
The  corporation  has  authority  to  procure  adop- 
tion and  to  place  the  children  at  suitable  employ- 
ments. Needy  women  of  previous  good  character 
are  received  for  confinement,  and  private  rooms 
are  provided  for  those  who  can  pay. 

Latterly  the  City  and  Suburban  Homes  Com- 
pany has  erected  several  improved  tenements,  and 
one,  built,  in  1902,  designed  especially  for  colored 
people,  is  called  the  Tuskegee,  and  is  situated  at 
213  to  215  West  Sixty-second  Street. 

The  Henrietta  Industrial  School,  at  224  West 
Sixty-third  Street,  is  one  of  the  youngest  of  the 
schools  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society.  It  was 
opened  in  a  small  building,  but  was  soon  found  to 
be  so  crowded,  a  hundred  pupils  registering  in 
one  day,  that  it  was  at  last  housed  in  its  present 
excellent  home.  Besides  the  elementary  branches, 
cooking  and  sewing  are  taught,  and  the  boys  are 
much  delighted  with  instruction  in  carpentry  and 
basketry.  Warm  dinners  are  provided  for  the 
little  people  attending  school  by  some  especially 
interested  friends,  and  the  class  of  cripples  has 
been  fostered  in  its  work  through  co-operation 
with  a  school  society.  This  society  pays  for  the 
wagonette  to  take  the  children  to  and  from  school; 
also  for  the  dinners  and  surgical  apparatus,  and 
supports  a  nurse,  who  visits  and  cares  for  the  chil- 
dren. 

A  movement,  started  in  New  York  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago  under  the  leadership  of 
Dr.  Felix  Adler,  which  materialied  in  the  Ethical 
Culture  Society,  has  served  largely  to  advance  edu- 
cational and  philanthropic  efforts  according  to  the 
best  methods.     Through  the  Society's  United  Re- 

163 


The  Better  New  York 

lief  Works,  free  kindergartens  were  first  estab- 
lished, manual  training  introduced  into  the  daily 
education  of  boys  and  girls,  and  district  nursing- 
served  its  first  probation.  The  Ethical  Culture 
School,  now  housed  in  the  fine  building.  Central 
Park  West  and  Sixty-third  Street,  is  a  model  of 
its  kind.  Its  forms  of  education  are  applicable  to 
children  of  all  classes,  and  in  this  way  a  solution 
of  the  labor  question  is  proposed,  while  the  under- 
lying principle  of  the  kindergarten,  which  is  carried 
out  through  the  higher  stages  of  instruction  and 
training,   makes  this   school  noteworthy 

The  modern  city  is  a  laboratory  for  the  student 
of  social  phenomena,  and  the  larger  the  city  the 
greater  the  opportunity  for  studying  the  infinite 
variations  of  the  problems  of  human  life.  In  no 
other  city  are  these  problems  so  important  as  in 
New  York,  the  second  largest  city  in  the  world, 
most  wealthy  in  dollars  and  in  cents,  the  cosmo- 
politan gateway  of  America.  Here,  therefore,  the 
housing  question,  one  of  the  gravest  of  these  prob- 
lems,  reaches  the  highest  mark  of  importance. 

The  tenement  house  evil  had  its  beginning  as  far 
back  as  1825,  when  New  York  increased  rapidly 
as  a  commercial  center,  and  the  residential  district 
began  its  migration  uptown.  The  old  houses  in 
the  lower  part  of  New  York,  once  aristocratic, 
have  all  fallen  from  their  high  estate.  Throughout 
this  district  these  old-time  wooden  houses  may  be 
seen;  what  was  the  garden  is  now  occupied  by  a 
front  house. 

From  1847  to  1856,  2,133,248  aliens  came  to 
New  York.  Of  course,  they  lived  in  tenement 
houses.  Immigrants  were  still  pouring  in  and 
more  room  had  to  be  made  for  them  also.  The 
rear  tenement  was  the  solution  of  the  problem,  and 
the  houses  were  wedged  in,  garden,  yard  and  court 
being  absorbed  by  the  house,  till  the  only  entrance 
was  a  narrow  passageway  between  the  two  houses. 
It  was  soon  seen  that  the  rear  space  also  could 
be  built  up,  and  that  was  quickly  done.  Now,  it 
was  absurd  to  let  the  front  house  be  overtopped 
by  the  rear,  so  the  suggestion  was  made  to  add 
to  the  front.     This  was  done. 

164 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

Even  yet  the  worst  point  was  not  reached,  for 
it  was  seen  that  if  the  houses  could  be  converted 
into  barracks,  more  people  could  be  crammed  in, 
affording  more  revenue  to  the  proprietor.  This, 
too,  was  done. 

Then  the  law  stepped  in  to  cry  "  hands  off."  The 
education  of  public  opinion  was  begun;  the  worst 
tenements  were  condemned  and  torn  down,  and 
the  ''model  tenement"  was  born. 

The  effect  of  the  model  tenement  is  seen  on 
every  side.  To  the  wage-earner,  good  housing 
means  better  health,  and  consequently  better  earn- 
ing power.  Bad  housing  is  accountable  for  much 
that  is  physically,  morally  and  socially  bad,  so 
everything  which  tends  to  properly  solve  the  prob- 
lem of  the  housing  of  the  great  masses  of  humanity 
in  a  large  city  is  of  a  truly  philanthropic  character. 

In  1896  the  City  and  Suburban  Homes  Com- 
pany was  organized,  and  has  practically  demon- 
strated that  improved  housing  for  the  poor  can 
be  solved  by  economic  methods.  This  company 
stands  today  for  what  has  been  styled  investment 
philanthropy,  that  is  philanthropy  which,  by  co- 
ordination with  a  reasonable  commercial  dividend, 
becomes  an  attractive  middle  ground  between  pure 
philanthrophy  and  pure  business.  A  few  men,  after 
making  experiments,  individually  or  in  associa- 
tions, for  the  purpose  of  demonstrating  the  prac- 
ticability of  improved  housing,  united,  with  a 
capital  of  $1,000,000,  to  carry  out  a  practical 
program  of  operations.  Improved  housing,  with 
a  fair  dividend  on  the  invested  capital  of  the  rich, 
is  not  the  only  object  for  which  the  company 
works,  however,  for  the  shares  are  fixed  at  the 
low  denomination  of  $10  in  order  to  enable  people 
of  small  means  to  make  investments  for  their  own 
direct  benefit,  with  a  sound  security.  Dividends 
are  limited  to  five  per  cent,  and  whatever  surplus 
accumulates  is  invested  for  the  extension  of  opera- 
tions. It  also  endeavors  to  meet  the  needs  of  wage- 
earners,  whose  ambitions  are  to  own  a  home,  and 
who  by  thrift  are  able  to  meet  small  monthly  in- 
stalments,, which  will  in  a  certain  number  of  years 
enable  them  to  achieve  their  wish. 

The   first   homes   put   up   by   this   company  were 

i6s 


The  Better  New  York 

the  group  known  as  the  "Alfred  Corning  Clarke," 
opened  February,  1898,  in  West  Sixty-eight  and 
Sixty-ninth  Streets,  near  Amsterdam  Avenue. 
There  is  ample  protection  by  fire  escapes  and 
plenty  of  window  space.  A  resident  superintend- 
ent cares  for  the  interest  of  the  tenants,  while  the 
rents  are  collected  by  friendly  rent  collectors,  who 
come  in  personal  touch  with  the  family.  In  the 
first  place,  these  tenements  are  models,  because  the 
size  of  the  lot,  200  by  40J  feet,  makes  a  plan  that 
would  be  impossible  on  an  ordinary  city  lot  twenty- 
five  feet  wide.  Here,  by  means  of  transverse 
courts  and  the  great  central  passages,  cross-ven- 
tilation is  possible,  while  the  central  courts  in  each 
group  allow  every  window  to  open  on  the  outer 
air.  Each  apartment  is  itself  a  complete  and  pri- 
vate home,  planned  to  meet  the  actual  social  needs 
of  sun,  light,  air_,  ventilation,  comfort  and*  privacy; 
in  fact,  every  possible  improvement  has  been  pro- 
vided for  the  benefit,  convenience,  physical  and 
moral  betterment  of  the  tenants,  thus  insuring 
healthful  and  beautiful  surroundings. 

At  259  and  261  West  Sixty-ninth  Street  is  the 
Riverside  Association,  in  a  locality  the  center  of 
an  enormous  tenement  population.  Here  the  ordi- 
nary work  of  a  social  settlement  is  carried  on  in 
an  extensive  manner.  In  the  Boys'  Club  there  has 
been  adopted  what  is  called  the  group  system,  the 
underlying  principle  of  which  is  personal  contact 
with  each  individual  boy.  Not  over  five  boys  are 
assigned  to  a  worker,  and  only  as  many  boys  are 
received  into  a  club  as  competent  workers  can  be 
found  to  supervise.  Each  club  consists  of  four 
managers  and  not  more  than  twenty  boys.  Here, 
too,  a  circulating  library,  operated  as  an  independ- 
ent library  under  the  charge  of  the  association, 
was  turned  over  to  the  New  York  Free  Circulating 
Library  in  1897,  and  is  now  a  part  of  the  Public 
Library  system. 

A.long  the  Hudson  River,  beginning  at  Seventy- 
second  Street,  and  stretching  northward  to  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-ninth,  is  Riverside  Park. 
IMie  lordly  Hudson  washes  its  edge.     Crowning  its 

166 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

heights  is  Riverside  Drive,  lined  with  fine  trees, 
and  by  some  of  the  most  substantial  and  beautiful 
residences  in  the  city.  Across  the  sweep  of  waters 
are  the  Palisades.  The  land  for  this  park  was 
acquired  by  the  city  in  1872  and  in  1876  it  was 
placed  under  the  control  of  the  Park  Department. 
It  has  been  gradually  added  to  until  now  it  con- 
tains almost  140  acres,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
picturesque   sections   of  the   city. 

A  monument  to  the  soldiers  and  sailors  who 
died  in  the  service  of  their  country  in  the  Civil 
War  was  erected  in  Riverside  Park  in  1902,  and 
was  dedicated  on  Memorial  Day  with  appropriate 
ceremonies.  The  platform  is  about  100  feet 
across,  with  side  steps  at  the  south  leading  to  a 
terrace  and  lower  platform.  On  the  north,  a 
long  flight  of  steps  leads  to  a  belvedere  with  seats, 
overlooking  the  valley.  The  grounds  are  beauti- 
fully arranged  about  the  monument,  and  the  pave- 
ments are  of  brick,  wnth  marble  borders.  The 
whole  structure  is  magnificent  and  commanding, 
and  of  itself  is  sufficient  embellishment  for  that 
portion  of  the  park. 

Further  along,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  park, 
opposite  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-third  Street, 
is  the  tomb  of  General  Grant.  The  monument 
covers  a  square  of  about  100  feet,  not  counting 
the  steps  and  projection  of  the  portico.  It  is  built 
of  large  blocks  of  granite,  in  the  Doric  order  of 
architecture.  The  entrance  has  a  beautiful  por- 
tico of  double  lines  of  columns,  approached  by 
steps  seventy  feet  wide.  A  cornice  and  a  parapet 
surmount  this  square  structure  at  a  height  of 
seventy-tw^o  feet,  and  the  circular  cupola,  seventy 
feet  in  diameter,  is  surmounted  with  a  top  in 
pyramid  shape,  which  has  its  apex  at  a  height  of 
280  feet  above  the  Hudson  River.  From  an 
outer  gallery  a  beautiful  view  of  the  surrounding 
countr}^  for  miles  about  is  to  be  seen.  The  great- 
est dimension  of  the  interior  is  seventy-six  feet. 
Piers  of  masonry  at  the  four  corners  are  connected 
by  arches,  the  tops  of  which  are  fifty  feet  from  the 
floor  level,  and  upon  these  rests  an  open  circular 
gallery,  which  culminates  in  a  dome  105  feet 
above  the  floor.     The  decoration  is  in  high  relief 

167 


The  Better  New  York 

sculpture,  emblematic  of  the  birth,  life  and  death 
of  General  Grant.  The  sarcophagus,  in  which 
the  body  of  General  Grant  rests,  was  formed 
from  a  single  block  of  red  porphyry.  The  expense 
of  erecting  the  tomb  was  met  by  subscriptions 
from  some  90,000  persons. 

Close  by  where  Riverside  Park  has  its  start,  op- 
posite the  river  at  Seventy-second  Street  and 
Eleventh  Avenue,  is  another  railroad  branch  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  opened  in 
i8(S7,  in  what  was  termed  the  round  house.  In 
i88g  the  present  building  was  erected  and  appro- 
priately furnished.  Typical  railroad  men  are  al- 
ways to  be  found  in  these  rooms,  where  comfort- 
able quarters  for  reading,  study  and  recreation 
have  been  prepared  for  them. 

The  American  IMuseum  of  Natural  History  oc- 
cupies the  square  inclosed  by  Seventy-seventh  and 
FJghty-first  Streets,  Central  Park  West  and  Co- 
lumbus Avenue.  It  was  established  in  1869,  with 
the  general  object  of  providing  for  the  public  a 
means  of  recreation  and  popular  instruction  in 
natural  liistor}^  and  the  kindred  subjects.     In  1874, 

Where  Marvels  of  Natural  History  are  Housed. 


/^ 


,?, "Ste,#lNP  'i :  r :'WUr,<r  r  I  re 


'  ^^ 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

the  corner  stone  of  the  present  building  was  laid 
by  General  Grant.  Courses  of  lectures  are  de- 
livered to  teachers  of  the  public  schools,  and  free 
lectures  are  delivered  to  the  public,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Board  of  Education.  Princely  gifts 
have  enriched  the  Museum,  and  purchases  upon  a 
magnificent  scale  have  secured  grand  collections. 
It  has  been  active  in  bringing  to  light,  by  research, 
exploration  and  collection,  the  ancient  civilization 
of  Mexico  and  Central  America,  and  various  rare 
collections  have  been  added  regarding  the  North 
American  Indians  and  ancient  peoples  of  the 
Southwest. 

The  city  furnishes  the  IMuseum  with  the  build- 
ing for  its  purposes,  and  an  annual  sum  sufficient 
for  its  proper  maintenance.  Further  sums  are 
furnished  by  subscription  and  an  efidowment  fund. 

The  Museum  maintains  field  parties  in  several 
of  the  United  States  and  Territories,  Mexico, 
Alaska,  British  Columbia,  Siberia,  and  the  prov- 
inces of  China.  The  researches  of  these  field- 
parties  have  revealed  to  the  world  a  series  of  ex- 
tinct creatures,  and  have  presented  new  facts  in 
evolution.  The  results,  properly  classified,  are  ex- 
hibited in  the  Museum  halls  in  the  shape  of  i,ooo 
specimens  of  fossil  mammals,  and  700  fossil  rep- 
tiles. In  the  collection  are  strange  skulls  and 
stupendous  skeletons  of  extinct  animal  races. 

A  very  important  feature  of  the  Museum  is  its 
work  as  an  educational  factor  in  connection  with 
the  public-school  system.  Teachers  and  classes 
visit  it  during  regular  school  hours  for  the  purpose 
of  study. 

George  Bancroft,  the  historian,  was  the  first 
president  of  the  American  Geographical  Society, 
founded  in  1852,  which  now  has  its  headquarters 
at  15  West  Eighty-first  Street.  This  society  en- 
courages geographical  exploration,  investigates 
and  disseminates  new  geographical  information, 
and  furnishes  a  place  where  accurate  information 
for  public  use  can  be  obtained  that  shall  benefit 
commerce  and  navigation. 

At  121  West  Ninety-first  Street  is  the  New 
York    Free    Circulating     Library    for    the     Blind. 

169 


The  Better  New  York 

This  library  had  its  inception  in  1894,  when  a  cor- 
respondent wrote  to  one  of  the  papers  saying  that 
he  had  learned  the  New  York  print  system  for 
the  blind,  but  that  as  books  cost  from  $3.00  to 
$5.00  a  volume,  he  could  not  make  much  use  of  his 
ability  to  read.  This  communication,  and  others, 
aroused  public  sen.timent  so  that  ninety-five  inter- 
ested persons  organized  the  New  York  Free  Cir- 
culating Library  for  the  Blind.  Through  the 
kindness  of  Rev.  E.  A.  Bradley,  D.  D..  a  home 
was  offered,  free  of  expense,  at  the  present  quar- 
ters, and  friends  contributed  about  $500,  and  sixty 
books  for  the  blind.  Since  that  time  the  member- 
ship has  grown  with  each  passing  year;  the  books 
now  number  something  over  1,600,  besides  about 
500  pieces  of  music.  There  are  about  300  blind 
members.  In  '  1903,  to  provide  permanently  for 
this  work,  the  library  became  merged  in  the  New 
York  Public  Library  system,  so  that  the  library 
now  has  a  permanent  home  and  permanent  sup- 
port. 

St.  Michael's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  at 
Amsterdam  Avenue  and  Ninety-ninth  Street,  has 
a  Memorial  Parish  House  adjoining  the  church, 
where  there  is  a  gymnasium,  penny  provident 
fund,  social  club  for  men,  and  various  associations, 
sewing  schools,   guilds,   societies. 

Just  off  Amsterdam  Avenue  in  One  Hundredth 
Street  is  a  circulating  library,  the  Bloomingdale 
Branch  of  the  New  ^  ork  Public  Library.  It  was 
opened  in  1896,  as  a  branch  of  the  New  York  Free 
Circulating  Library,  and  became  part  of  the  Pub- 
lic Library  system  m  1901.  Jt  occupied  sma.l 
quarters  at  first,  but  the  work  extended  with  such 
rapidity  that  it  was  necessary  to  erect  a  special 
building  in  1898.  The  reason  for  this  rapid 
growth  is  found  in  the  distance  of  this  branch 
from  the  large  reference  libraries,  and  therefore 
the  special  need  for  a  good  reference  collection 
at  this  point.  Connected  with  this  branch  is  the 
Traveling  Library  iJepartment  of  the  Public  Li- 
brary system.  In  this  department  there  are  over 
i8,0Q0  volumes,  which  are  sent  out  in  k)ts  of  from 
(jiie  book  to  600,  free  of  expense,  to  any  society  or 


West  of  Fifth  Avenue 

group  of  people  asking  for  them.  An  expert  li- 
brarian will  make  the  selection,  or  will  send 
whatever  books  are  chosen  by  the  people  them- 
selves. 

Bloomingdale  Village,  from  which  this  library 
takes  its  name,  may  be  roughly  described  as  hav- 
ing occupied  the  ground  now  inclosed  by  Colum- 
bus Avenue,  Sixty-sixth  Street,  Seventy-third 
Street  and  Hudson  River.  The  center  of  the  vil- 
lage was  at  the  present  Amsterdam  Avenue  and 
Seventieth  Street,  and  the  village  church  stood 
close  by  the  Bloomingdale  Road,  at  the  Seven- 
tieth Street  edge  of  the  triangle  now  formed  by 
Amsterdam  Avenue,  the  Boulevvard,  and  Sixty- 
ninth   Street. 

The  Society  for  the  Relief  of  the  Destitute 
Blind,  at  Amsterdam  Avenue  and  One  Hundred 
and  Fourth  Street,  has  been  incorporated  since 
1869,  and  receives  adults  of  all  ages,  and  keeps 
them  as  long  as  they  live,  whether  they  are  able 
to  pay  a  small  sum,  or  are  without  money  or 
friends.  Eighty  per  cent,  of  the  blind  become  so 
after  the  age  of  eighteen,  so  that  the  majority  of 
the  adults  have  received  no  training  fitting  them 
for  work  suitable  for  the  blind.  Here  they  are 
instructed  in  such  arts  as  chair-caning  and  mat- 
tress-making, and  the  women  in  knitting  and 
sewing. 

The  public  school  at  Amsterdam  Avenue  and 
One  Hundred  and  Eighth  Street,  with  a  very 
handsome  entrance  of  gray  stone  and  gray  brick, 
is  architecturally  patterned  after  the  fashion  of 
some  old  French  chateau.  This  exemplifies  an 
upward  movement  in  the  evolution  of  school  build- 
ing architecture. 


I7X 


The  Church 
at  Work: ; 
St.  Thomas's 
House. 


DIVISION  IX. 

Fifty-seventh  to  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street,  East 
of  Fifth  Avenue. 

The  principal  institutional  activity  of  the  Madi- 
son Avenue  Reformed  Church  is  at  Sixtieth  Street 
and  First  Avenue.  Here  is  the  Bethany  Memorial 
Building,  erected  in  memory  of  a  young  Princeton 
graduate,  who  lost  his  life  in  saving  a  young  girl 
from  drowning.  It  contains  a  chapel,  library, 
baths,  gymnasium,  a  well-equipped  shop  for  indus- 
trial training  and  carpentry,  and  also  a  boys'  club- 
room.  A  Day  Nursery  is  maintained  in  an  ad- 
joining building. 

At  421  East  Sixtieth  Street  is  one  of  the  indus- 
trial schools  of  the  American  Female  Guardian 
Society. 

On  the  north  side  of  Fifty-ninth  Street,  between 
Second  and  Third  Avenues,  is  St.  Thomas's  House, 
where  the  institutional  work  of  the  St.  Thomas 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  (Fifth  Avenue  and 
Fifty-third  Street)  is  carried  on.  In  the  main 
building     several     industrial    classes     in    cobbling, 


172 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

chair-canIng,  mechanical  and  architectural  drawing 
are  held.  Besides  these,  a  cooking  school,  a  kin- 
dergarten, a  kitchen  garden,  a  penny-a-day  emer- 
gency fund,  various  social  clubs,  guilds  and  moth- 
ers' meetings  have  each  an  important  place.  A 
feature  of  the  work  is  a  diet  kitchen,  where  soup 
and  loaves  of  bread  are  daily  supplied  to  all  needy 
persons  who  apply.  The  Parish  House  occupies 
a  building  specially  constructed  for  it,  where  the 
whole  atmosphere  is  full  of  cheerful  energy.  A 
roof  garden  in  pleasant  weather  adds  greatly  to 
the  comfort  and  pleasure  of  the  little  ones. 

Unique  indeed  is  the  only  orthopaedic  hospital 
pure  and  simple  in  this  city.  It  is  called  the  New 
York  Orthopaedic  Dispensary  and  Hospital,  and 
has  a  building  of  its  own  at  126  East  Fifty-ninth 
Street.  Its  efforts  are  concentrated  on  cripples, 
in  each  case  making  a  clear  analysis  of  the  child's 
affliction,  and  making  for  each  case  special  appa- 
ratus for  the  sufferer,  and  adjusting  it  with  minute 
and  scientific  care.  The  workshop  of  this  hospital 
is  like  a  great  medical  prescription  department,  as 
the  braces  for  the  poor  little  limbs  are  made  up  by 
the  careful  putting  together  of  component  parts, 
prescribed  by  the  surgeon  in  charge,  and  under  his 
rigid  supervision.  The  duty  of  the  surgeon,  how- 
ever, is  not  ended,  when  a  brace,  fitted  in  every 
detail  to  give  relief,  has  been  adjusted.  He  is 
responsible  for  the  child's  reappearance  at  the 
hospital  from  time  to  time,  and  at  each  visit,  if 
necessary,  makes  a  special  change  in  the  brace  to 

Practical    Uplift  for   Cripples. 


'Ilfli  I 


\ 


The  Orthopaedic. 


suit  the  condition.  Professional  services  are  ren- 
dered gratuitously,  but  those  who  can  afford  to 
do  so,  are  expected  to  reimburse  the  institution 
for  the  actual  cost  of  the  apparatus.  Payment 
for  the  use  of  the  apparatus  may  be  made  in  in- 
stalments, but  it  is  never  sold  outright,  as  the 
institution  reserves  the  right  to  take  it  back  and 
discharge  any  patient  not  complying  with  the  di- 
rections of  the  surgeon.  Two  visiting  nurses  are 
provided  by  the  hospital  to  follow  out  the  treat- 
ment in  the  homes  of  those  who  have  been  cared 
for  in  the  hospital.  For  the  children  in  the  hos- 
pital, a  regular  teacher  is  provided  through  a 
school  fund.  This  allows  them  to  continue  their 
studies  according  to  the  public  school  method 
during  the  period  of  their  treatment  in  the  hos- 
pital, which  is  of  great  advantage  for  those  who 
sometimes  spend  months  there. 

The  home  of  the  Board  of  Education  is  at 
Fifty-ninth  Street  and  Park  Avenue.  This  is  the 
executive  educational  center  of  the  public  school 
system  of  New  York  City,  which  had  its  begin- 
ning in  1805,  when  DeWitt  Clinton  was  mayor, 
and    he,    with    other    citizens,    organized    a    Free 


174 


At  Close  of  Day  in  the  Orthopaedic. 

School  Society,  to  provide  an  education  for  every 
child.  The  following  year  the  first  free  school  was 
opened.  This  society  continued  in  force  for  forty- 
eight  years,  each  year  the  number  of  schools  in- 
creasing, until  finally  all  its  property  was  turned 
over  to  the  city. 

As  the  city  grew,  the  school  system  became  more 
and  more  elaborate  until  now  there  are  259  schools 
in  the  boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx,  the 
original  city  of  New  York,  and  about  as  many 
more  in  the  other  boroughs  w^hich  were  taken  in 
to  make  the  Greater  New  York. 

In  thirty-three  of  these  schools  there  are  work- 
shops, properly  equipped  for  manual  training 
courses.  There  are  gymnasiums  and  instructors 
in  all  the  high  schools,  and  a  director  of  physical 
training  for  the  city  in  general.  Sewing  is  taught 
in  all  the  public  schools,  and  cooking  in  half  a 
hundred  of  the  day  schools  and  in  many  of  the 
evening  schools.  In  six  of  the  schools,  interesting 
experimental  classes  for  abnormal  children  have 
been  held  in  order  to  study  results  closely,  with 
a  view  to  an  extension  of  the  work. 

There  has  been  a  great  increase  in  the  number 
of  kindergartens  in  recent  years,  because  the  re- 
vised charter  provides  that  children  under  six  who 
attend  the  public  school  must  attend  the  kinder- 
«^arten  classes,  so  in  all  the  new  buildings,  rooms 


175 


^^Mmmiim 


'imm^nr^ 


.!  I 


,oon  -KM'    'n   ooo    ooi 


.1,1 

,,__J]L 

l|.v.  ■     •\-\doI    Ot>-- C!   i  ^      Til 

The  New  Education. 

especially  adapted  have  been  provided  for  the 
purpose. 

The  evening  school  work  is  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance, and  the  fact  that  more  than  20,000  non- 
English-speaking  foreigners  attend  these  evening 
schools  shows  the  extent  of  this  branch  of  the 
work. 

A  feature  in  modern  educational  history  is  the 
evolution  of  the  vacation  school,  now  held  through 
the  siunmer  months  in  a  number  of  the  school 
buildings.  More  than  fifty  vacation  schools  are 
now  regularly  in  operation.  They  are  open  three 
hours  each  morning,  and  up  to  this  time  have  had 
an  average  attendance  of  about  450  each,  all  that 
can  be  accommodated,  with  a  waiting  list  always. 
The  average  age  of  the  children  in  these  schools  is 
about  twelve.  No  text-books  are  used  at  these  ses- 
sions, and  no  teaching  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the 
word,  except  in  the  case  of  very  young  children, 
when  kindergarten  methods  are  used.  Useful  arts 
and  employments  are  taught  by  specially  prepared 
teachers,  such  as  basket  work.  Venetian  iron  work, 
carpentry,  cooking,  waiting  on  the  table,  first  aid 
to  the  injured,  painting  and  such  branches.  Each 
child  is  invited  to  choose  for  himself  the  work  he 
likes  best.  At  the  end  of  each  season  exhibitions 
are  given,  when  the  handiwork  and  craftsmanship 
of  the  children  are  displayed. 

176 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

A  system  of  adult  education,  in  which  the  Board 
of  Education  was  the  pioneer  for  more  than  fifteen 
years,  has  been  free  lectures  to  the  people.  It 
differs  from  the  ordinary  lyceum  course  of  lec- 
tures, in  that  it  is  absolutely  free,  a  part  of  the  pub- 
lic educational  system,  all  cost  being  defrayed  from 
the  public  treasury.  The  attendance  at  the  lec- 
tures is  a  right,  and  not  a  privilege.  It  stands,  in 
fact,  for  exactly  the  same  idea  as  the  free  school, 
the  free  college,  the  free  library,  and  the  free 
museum.  Almost  all  the  audiences  are  composed 
of  working  people,  and  the  lectures  are  given  as 
near  as  possible,  to  their  homes,  generally  in  the 
school  buildings.  Centers  for  lectures  in  Yiddish 
and  Italian  were  established  at  several  of  the  pub- 
lic schools;  also  for  lectures  on  musical  and  ethi- 
cal subjects  on  Sunday  evenings.  The  subjects 
generally  treated,  however,  have  been  science  and 
history.  During  a  year  4,000  lectures  are  deliv- 
ered by  400  lecturers,  at  128  centers.  The  total 
yearly  attendance   is  over  a  million. 

The  first  evening  recreation  centers  to  be  estab- 
lished under  the  auspices  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion were  started  in  1899,  in  which  year  five  were 
opened  in  schools  on  the  lower  East  Side.  The 
number  has  since  been  increased  until  now  there 
are  more  than  twenty.  Most  of  these  evening  cen- 
ters are  in  the  crowded  districts  on  the  East  Side. 
Some  are  for  boys,  and  some  for  girls.  The  ages 
are  from  fourteen  to  twenty.  Clubs  are  formed 
at  these  centers,  including  literary,  debating  and 
athletic  clubs,  and  a  gymnasium  with  instructor, 
is  often  found.  There  is  a  library,  and  the  eve- 
ning often  closes  with  dancing.  A  room  is  set 
apart  where  studiously  inclined  boys  and  girls  may 
go  to  look  over  their  lessons,  or  if  in  school,  to 
take  up  some  subject  in  which  they  wish  to  im- 
prove themselves.  There  is  always  someone  here 
to  explain  knotty  points.  Lectures  are  delivered 
once  or  twice  weekly. 

A  marked  change  has  taken  place  in  the  archi- 
tectural beauty  of  the  school  buildings,  and  some 
of  those  that  have  been  constructed  within  the  last 
ten  years,  in  outward  harmony  of  line  and  mass 
and  form,  are  among  the  finest  in  the  world.     The 

177 


The  Better  New  York 

first  departure  from  the  old  formal  buildings  was 
made  in  1892,  in  the  public  school  at  Mulberry 
and  Bayard  Streets,  when  a  structure  in  Roman- 
esque style  was  erected,  and  since  then  progress 
has  been  toward  a  combination  of  the  useful  and 
the  beautiful.  The  question  of  economy  has  not 
been  overlooked,  however,  for  the  public  school 
buildings  in  New  York,  taking  into  consideration 
the  number  of  children  they  accommodate,  cost 
less  by  one-half  than  those  of  some  other  large 
cities;  in  fact^  much  of  the  beauty  of  detail  does 
not  consist  in  mere  expensive  ornamentation,  but 
in  choice  of  color  and  materials.  School  interiors 
have  also  been  greatly  improved  of  late  years 
through  outside  influence  and  assistance,  by  the 
use  of  framed  reproductions  of  famous  works  of 
art. 

The  average  attendance  at  the  Chinese  Sunday- 
school  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church, 
at  9  East  Fifty-ninth  Street,  is  thirty-five  scholars, 
but  this  average  is  affected  by  the  number  of  teach- 
ers provided.  In  connection  with  the  school,  there 
is  a  branch  society  of  the  National  Organization 
of  the  Chinese  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 

In  the  basement  of  All  Souls'  Church  (Prot- 
estant Episcopal),  Madison  Avenue  and  Sixty- 
sixth  Street,  are  the  clubrooms  where  the  in- 
stitutional work  of  the  church  is  carried  on.  There 
are  among  other  features,  free  kindergartens,  edu- 
cational clubs  for  children  and  grown-ups,  classes 
in  cooking,  kitchen  gardening,  and  an  auditorium 
for  illustrated  lectures. 

On  Fifth  Avenue,  between  Seventieth  and 
Seventy-first  Streets,  is  the  Lenox  Library, 
founded  in  1870,  by  James  Lenox,  who  gave  the 
land  and  funds,  together  with  a  collection  of  rare 
Americana,  Bibles  and  manuscripts.  The  library 
was  intended  for,  and  has  always  been  a  place 
rather  of  scholarly  reference  than  a  reading-room, 
fn  1895,  by  consolidation  with  the  Astor  Library 
and  the  Tildcn  Trust,  the  Lenox  Library  became 
part  of  the   New  York    Public   Library. 

The   second   decorati\'e   offering   of   the    Munici- 
178 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

pal  Arts  Society  to  the  city,  was  the  ''Hunt  Me- 
morial," erected  in  co-operation  with  ten  other  art 
societies.  This  is  a  large  marble  bench  and  screen 
on  Fifth  Avenue,  against  the  Central  Park  wall, 
opposite  Lenox  Library.  The  bench  was  designed 
by  Bruce  Price,  and  the  two  symbolic  statutes 
which  adorn  it,  together  with  a  bust  of  Richard 
Morris  Hunt,  a  distinguished  architect  who  was  the 
first  president  of  the  society,  are  the  work  of  Dan- 
iel  C.    French. 

For  more  than  thirty  years  the  sick  poor  of 
New  York  City  have  been  taken  care  of  at  the 
Presb3^terian  Hospital,  Madison  Avenue  and 
Seventieth  Street,  which  gives  medical  or  surgical 
advice  to  some  500  persons  per  day.  Of  these,  ap- 
proximately two-thirds  are  unable  to  pay  anything, 
and  are  treated  free.  In  the  dispensary  prescrip- 
tions are  made  up  for  the  small  fee  of  ten  cents,  no 
matter  what  the  real  cost  of  the  medicine,  or  with- 
out any  charge  if  payment  is  impossible,  and  this 
timely  advice  and  treatment  helps  thousands  to 
go  on  with  their  daily  work.  A  training  school 
was  opened  in  1892. 

Opposite  the  hospital  on  the  Seventy-first  Street 
side,  is  St.  James's  Church,  half  covered  with  ivy, 
which  is  pointed  out  as  the  one  so  long  in  charge 
of  the  son  of  the  author  of  'Ten  Thousand  a 
Year."  This  church,  with  its  daus^hter  Church  of 
the  Holy  Trinity,  in  Eighty-e.'ghth  Street,  mantains 
St.  Christopher's  House,  where  institutional  work 
is  carried  on;  a  church  orphanage  at  400  East 
Fiftieth  Street:  a  church  settlement  house  at  419 
East  Eighty-third  Street,  and  brotherhoods,  guilds 
and  societies  for  the  advancement  of  the  people. 
A  distinctive  feature  of  the  work  of  St.  James's 
Church  is  a  branch  of  the  Ministering  Children's 
League,  a  large  society  originally  started  in 
England,  for  the  purpose  of  interesting  children 
in  working  for  others.  The  results  of  their  work 
are  sold  at  an  annual  fair,  and  the  proceeds  go 
towards  the  endowment  of  a  bed  in  the  babies' 
hospital. 

At  Seventieth  Street  and  Park  Avenue  is  the 
Union    Theological     Seminary,    founded    in     1836, 

179 


The  Better  New  York 

Although  this  is  under  the  charge  of  directors  and 
professors  who  give  their  assent  to  the  Westmin- 
ster standards,  it  is  in  a  sense  non-sectarian,  and 
theological  students  of  various  denominations 
come  from  all  over  the  world  to  study  there.  The 
students  serve  as  pastors'  assistants,  in  connection 
with  the  city  missionary  societies,  settlements, 
work  in  public  institutions,  regular  preaching  and 
choir  service. 

On  Lexington  Avenue,  between  Sixty-seventh 
and  Sixty-eighth  Streets,  is  the  Institution  for  the 
Improved  Instruction  of  Deaf  Mutes,  intended  for 
children,  entirely  or  partially  deaf,  who  cannot  at- 
tend the  common  schools.  Here  they  are  educated 
at  the  public  expense,  such  as  can  paying  $300  a 
year,  and  are  also  fitted  with  trades,  givino-  them 
an  opportunity  of  earning  a  livelihood.  The  in- 
stitution has  been  in  existence  for  about  seventy 
years. 

Well-equipped  gardens  in  Sixty-eighth  Street, 
between  Third  and  Lexington  Avenues,  surround 
the  buildings  of  the  New  York  Foundling  Asy- 
lum, which  have  stood  there,  added  to  from 
time  to  time,  since  1869,  and  which  now  contain 
every  facility  for  protecting  unfortunate  infancy. 
This  asylum,  which  is  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
will  always  be  known  as  Sister  Irene's  Home.  It 
receives  the  foundling  and  deserted  chilrlren  of  th^^ 
city  of  New  York.  In  the  asylum  itself  about  6co 
children  can  be  provided  for,  and  the  house  is 
usually  well  filled;  but  besides  this  there  are  cared 
for,  outside  of  the  building,  about  1,300  others. 
These  are  looked  after  by  respectable  poor  women 
with  families,  who  are  hired  as  nurses,  and  con- 
stitute the  outdoor  department  of  the  institution. 
These  children  are  brought  back  to  the  asyhim 
after  a  time,  and  with  the  others  are  given  ewvy 
possible  advantage  of  early  training  before  they 
are  sent  out  into  the  world. 

The  Baron  de  Hirsch  Trade  School,  in  East 
Sixty-fourth  Street,  between  Second  and  Third 
Avenues,  teaches  plumbing,  carpentry,  metal  work- 

180 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

ing,  electrical  work,  mechanical  drawing  and  sign 
painting,  free  of  charge  to  Russian-Roumanian 
immigrant  boys  and  young  men.  It  also  instructs 
in  the  English  language.  The  present  building 
was   opened   in   1899. 

The  Clara  de  Hirsch  Home  and  Training  School 
for  Working  Girls,  Sixty-third  Street  near  Second 
Avenue,  benefits  immigrant  working  girls,  and 
other  unmarried  women,  by  seeking  to  improve 
their  mental,  moral  and  physical  condition;  train- 
ing them  for  self-support,  and  aiding  them  to  ob- 
tain suitable  employment,  at  the  same  time  pro- 
viding an  excellent  home  at  low  cost. 

Within  a  few  doors  of  First  Avenue  and  Sixty- 
third  Street  there  is  a  four-story  building  of  brick 
which  tells,  by  means  of  half  a  dozen  signs,  plainly 
to  be  seen  by  day  and  by  night,  that  everyone  who 
will  may  enter.  Here  is  carried  on  the  institu- 
tional work  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church 

Truly  wonderful  to  those  who  have  not  made 
a  study  of  improved  city  housing,  and  a  practical 
lesson  to  those  who  have,  is  the  great  block  of 
homes  that  extends  from  Sixty-fourth  to  Sixty- 
fifth  Streets,  along  First  Avenue,  built  in  1900  by 
the  City  and  Suburban  Homes  Company.  One 
feature  here  is  characteristic — the  disappearance 
of  the  clothes-line.  Among  New  York's  chief 
decorations  have,  from  time  out  of  mind,  been  the 
clothes  lines  strung  from  tall,  ugly  posts  to  the 
windows.  Those  who  think  that  municipal  art 
means  only  great  public  squares  or  noble  buildings 
should  visit  this  model  tenement  and  learn  how 
important  is  the  abatement  of  the  clothes-lme 
nuisance,  which,  heretofore,  has  defiantly  tiaunted 
its  banners  in  the  faces  of  those  attempting  to 
make  the  city  beautiful.  In  this  building  the 
clothes  are  hung  on  the  roof,  out  of  sight,  giving 
an  extra  amount  of  light  and  air  to  the  courtyard. 

The  low  group  of  buildings  in  First  Avenue  at 
Sixty-seventh  Street,  is  the  New  York  Trade 
School,  which  affords  young  men  under  twenty- 
two  years  of  age  practical  instruction  in  plumbmg, 

181 


Education  of  Hand  and  Brain. 


bricklaying,  plastering,  sheet  metal,  cornice  work, 
carpentry,  steam  and  hot-water  fitting,  printing, 
blacksmith's  work,  house  and  sign  painting,  elec- 
trical work,  pattern  making,  and  drawing.  Al- 
though a  charge  is  made  for  admission,  the  terms 
are  merely  nominal,  as  the  endowment  which  the 
school  possesses  enables  it  to  carry  out  the  object 
for  which  it  was  founded, — by  the  late  Colonel 
R.  T.  Auchmuty,  in  1881, — and  the  course  of  in- 
struction is  so  arranged  that  both  the  practical  and 
theoretical  branches  of  a  trade  are  taught.  In 
this  way,  not  only  is  manual  skill  quickly  acquired, 
but  the  scientific  principles  which  underlie  the  prac- 
tical work  are  mastered.  This  is  the  first  school 
to  adopt  this  system,  and  the  results  attained  by  it 
have  attracted  attention  in  this  country  and  in 
Europe,  combining  as  it  does  the  trade  school  and 
workshop. 

Over  and  over  again,  previous  to  1879,  reforms 
were  agitated  in  the  matter  of  tenement  houses, 
and  proper  legislation  proposed,  but  never  carried 
out.  At  last  a  certain  number  of  public-spirited 
citizens,  not  content  to  wait  for  new  laws,  held 
a  mass  meeting  in  Cooper  Union  in  February, 
1879,     when    it    was    determined    to    erect     several 

182 


[\ 


:^^..h. 


i) 


JT^ 


,^. 


The  Real  Thing  in  Practise. 

model  tenement  houses.  In  the  following  year, 
as  a  result  of  the  recommendation  of  a  Committee 
of  Nine,  the  Improved  Dwellings  Association  was 
formed,  with  a  capital  of  $300,000.  Several  lots 
of  land  were  purchased  on  First  Avenue,  from 
Seventy-first  to  Seventy-second  Street,  and  there 
was  erected  an  excellent  block  of  houses,  some- 
what similar  in  plan  to  those  built  by  Mr.  Alfred  T. 
White  in  Brooklyn,  in  1877,  which  were  modeled 
after  the  Improved  Industrial  Dwellings  Com- 
pany's homes  in  London.  These  buildings  are  in 
good  condition  today,  nearly  twenty-five  years 
after,  and  have  paid  in  all  that  time  regularly  five 
per  cent,   dividend. 

Underfed  and  ill-cared-for  children  crowd  to 
overflowing  the  Jones  Memorial  Industrial  School 
of  the  Children's  Aid  Society,  at  407  East  Seventy- 
third  Street.  The  Bohemians  are  largely  repre- 
sented, as  the  surrounding  population  consists 
chiefly  of  these.  Among  the  truant  children 
handed  over  to  the  care  of  the  school  much  suc- 
cessful work  has  been  done.  A  good  hot  dinner 
and  proper  bathing  facilities  always  attract  them, 
and,  when  comfortably  clothed  in  the  garments 
made  by  the  sewing  class  and  from  other  sources, 
a  feeling  of  self-respect  asserts  itself  and  a  new 
record  begins. 

183 


An  Application  Station  in  Hand  Training. 

At  446  East  Seventy-second  Street  the  Normal 
College  Alumnae  House,  opened  in  1894,  is  a 
social  settlement  in  a  crowded  tenement-house 
neighborhood,  and  the  work  is  carried  on  by  the 
Alumnae  and  the  undergraduates  of  the  Normal 
College.  The  work  here  is  almost  entirely  with 
the  young,  for  it  is  the  belief  of  the  resident  work- 
ers that  a  child  is  the  only  real  democrat,  and  a 
settlement  that  begins  its  work  for  the  welfare  of 
children  will  find  itself  in  the  full  tide  of  demo- 
cratic life.  So  successful  has  the  work  been  that 
the  number  of  children  who  are  trained  is  only 
limited  b}^  the  number  of  voluntary  teachers.  The 
children  are  taken  in  small  groups,  each  under  one 
teacher,  and  are  taught  all  those  things  that  will 
tend  to  make  a  perfect  foundation  for  practical 
living.  A  special  efifort  has  been  made  to  de- 
velop such  children  as  are  musically  inclined. 

At  the  foot  of  Seventy-sixth  Street  and  the  East 
River  is  the  East  Side  House  settlement  in  a  new 
building  of  brick  and  stone,  forty  by  one  hundred 
feet.  A  unique  feature  is  its  library.  It  docs  not 
propose  to  turn  the  library  into  a  museum,  but  to 
gather  small  representative  and  typical  collections 
of  objects  to  broadly  illustrate  departments  of 
natural  science  and  useful  arts.     It  now  has  col- 

184 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

lections  of  birds,  nests  and  eggs,  butterflies  and 
other  insects,  minerals,  physical  apparatus,  ana- 
tomical models,  maps  and  photographs.  A 
feature  is  made  of  loaning  these  specimens  to 
teachers  of  the  public  schools  for  classroom  work. 
Besides  this,  there  is  the  ordinary  settlement  work, 
with  kindergartens   and   cooking   schools. 

At  222  East  Seventy-ninth  Street,  between  Sec- 
ond and  Third  Avenues,  is  the  Yorkville  Branch 
of  the  New  York  Public  Library.  It  was  organized 
in  1897,  and  sprang  almost  immediately  into  the 
front  rank  in  circulation.  It  has  the  honor  of 
being  the  first  housed  in  one  of  the  Carnegie 
buildings,  and  is  one  of  the  branches  of  the  New 
York  P>ee   Circulating  Library. 

First  Carnegie  Library. 


The  Better  New  York 

The  public-school  building  of  Flemish  architec- 
ture, at  Madison  Avenue  and  Eighty-tifth  Street, 
was  the  first  step  in  a  regime  which  started  about 
eleven  3^ears  ago  with  the  idea  of  developing 
beauty  in  school   architecture. 

At  318  East  Eighty-second  Street  is  the  Sister- 
hood for  Personal  Service,  maintained  by  the 
Temple  Emanuel,  for  relieving  the  sick  and  needy. 
Here,  too,  religious  and  industrial  instruction  is 
given  to  such  as  apply.  Volunteer  service  is 
made  part  of  the  obligations  of  the  sisterhood, 
and  in  their  day  nursery  young  Hebrew  women  of 
wealth  take  turns  in  helping  the  matron  care  for 
the   children. 

The  Church  Workers'  House  of  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Trinity,  at  419  East  Eighty-third  Street, 
is  allied  to  St.  James's  Church  (INladison  Avenue 
and  Seventy-first  Street).  Here  is  a  residence  not 
only  for  the  church  workers  of  the  parish,  under 
a  house  mother,  but  for  young  people  temporarily 
in  need  of  a  home.  It  serves  also  as  a  meeting 
place  for  some  of  the  social  work  of  the  parish. 

Along  the  East  River,  from  Eighty-first  to 
Nintieth  Streets,  extends  the  East  River  Park, 
overlooking  Hell  Gate.  A  generation  ago  this 
was  countryside,  far  above  the  city,  where  wealthy 
townsmen  had  their  country  homes.  Now  it  is  one 
of  the  improved  city  parks.  John  Jacob  Astor's 
home  stood  in  the  grounds  where  this  park  is  now. 
At  that  time  Washington  Irving  was  often  his 
guest,  and  here  wrote  the  greater  part  of 
"Astoria."  The  trees  that  Irving  sat  under  as  he 
overlooked  Hell  Gate  are  there  yet,  though  the 
wildness  of  country  has  given  way  to  the  sym- 
metry and  artificiality  of  a  city  health  spot.  The 
water  flows  on,  but  Hell  Gate  has  lost  its  terror 
since,  in  September,  1876,  Hellet's  Reef  was  blown 
up  by  the  use  of  49,915  pounds  of  explosives.  The 
next  explosion  was  in  1885,  when  Flood  Rock  was 
destroyed;  282,730  pounds  of  explosives  were  used. 
The  real  work  of  this  gigantic  task  was  begun, 
in  1867,  on  outlying  ledges,  and  some  eighty  blasts 
of    explosives    in    drill    holes    and    about    sixteen 

186 


1 


East  of  Fifth  Avenue 

blasts    of    explosives,    resting   on    the    rock,    were 
made  up  to  January,  1875. 

Some  fifteen  years  ago  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  adopted  the  plan  of  consecrating  women 
as  deaconesses  for  special  religious  work.  The 
present  Home,  at  1175  JMadison  Avenue,  has  a 
training  school  for  the  study  of  the  Bible,  for  re- 
ligious development,,  and  practical  work  among 
the  poor. 

At  350  East  Eighty-eighth  Street  is  the  Rhine- 
lander  Industrial  School  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society,  where  classes  for  crippled  children  are 
maintained,  a  warm  lunch  is  provided,  and  the 
children  are  taken  back  and  forth  in  a  wagonette. 
During  the  year  they  are  given  outings  at  one  of 
the  summer  homes  of  this  society. 

The  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  at  312-332 
East  Eighty-eighth  Street,  is  in  the  Parish  of  St. 
James,  and  much  of  the  home  missionary  work  oi 
the  parish  is  under  its  management.  Next  door, 
at  St.  Christopher's  House,  which  is  under  the 
management  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
boys'  cubs  are  very  flourishing,  and  much  excel- 
lent service  is  accomplished,  socially  and  educa- 
tionally, through  their  medium.  Three  classes  in 
basketry  do  marketable  work,  and  the  money  from 
ure  of  giving.  A  men's  club  is  also  prosperous, 
these  sales  is  given  to  the  fund  for  the  day  nur- 
sery. In  this  way  the  poorest  boy  learns  the  pleas- 
ure of  giving.  A  men's  club  is  also  prosperous, 
and  man}^  girls  are  interested  through  the  sewing 
classes.  There  are  a  library  and  reading-room, 
a  gymnasium  and  swimming  pool. 

The  East  Side  Branch  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  at  158  East  Eighty-seventh 
Street,  which  has  been  in  existence  for  more  than 
sixteen  years,  emphasizes  social  features  and 
reaches  men  to  whom  such  recreation  would 
otherwise  be  unknown. 

At  the  Young  Men's  Hebrew  Association  is  an 
employment  bureau,  conducted  on  modern  lines, 
which  looks  carefully  to  the  needs  of  employer  and 
employee.     This   association,   which   is   at   Ninety- 

187 


Reading-Room   Young   Men's   Hebrew   Association, 

second  Street  and  Lexington  Avenue,  seeks  to  im- 
prove the  condition  of  young  men  morally,  intel- 
lectually, socially  and  physically.  The  employ- 
ment bureau  is  free  to  all,  and  for  the  members 
there  are  classes  in  all  sorts  of  studies  calculated 
to  fit  them  for  the  battle  of  life. 

Interesting  and  useful,  indeed,  is  the  East  Side 
work  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  City  Missionary 
Society,  which  is  carried  on  through  the  Chapel 
of  the  Messiah,  at  206  East  Ninety-fifth  Street. 
There  is  a  Sunday-school  attended  by  upwards  of 
800  children,  and  music  is  furnished  by  a  vested 
choir  of  thirty-five  men,  women  and  boys.  There 
are  a  Girls'  Friendly  Society,  a  Young  Men's  Club, 
Mothers'  Meetings,  and  an  Industrial  School. 
The  Fresh  Air  work  is  started  every  year  with 
what  is  known  as  the  "June  Walk,"  when  more 
than  a  thousand  children  and  teachers,  young  men 
and  women,  mothers  and  fathers,  march  to  the 
great  north  meadow  of  Central  Park,  led  by  a 
band  of  music,  and  a  delightful  day  is  spent  on 
the  green  grass  and  under  the  beautiful  trees.  Ice 
cream  and  the  more  substantial  luncheon  are  not 
forgotten. 

The    five    houses    from    235    to    243    East    One 
188 


Education  for  Eye  and  Ear. 


Hundred  and  Fourth  Street,  form  the  home  of 
the  Union  Settlement  Association.  While  there 
is  no  organic  connection  between  the  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary  and  this  settlement,  and  while 
the  relations  between  the  two  institutions  are  en- 
tirely unofficial,  they  are,  at  the  same  time,  inti- 
mate and  cordial.  One  of  the  chief  aims  of  the 
organizers  was  to  establish  a  settlement  that 
would  claim  the  interest  and  support  of  the  sem- 
inary students,  and  give  them  an  opportunity  of 
studying  at  close  range  the  social  problems  that 
present  themselves  in  the  crowded  sections  of  a 
great  city,  and  of  gaining  some  acquaintance  with 
modern  methods  of  attempting  their  solution. 
The  settlement  has  been  in  operation  since  1895, 
and  has  grown  from  the  second  floor  of  a  tene- 
ment house  to  these  five  buildings.  Settlement 
activities,  divided  usually  into  social,  educational 
and  religious  classes,  are  here  pursued  on  a  dis- 
tinctly religious  basis. 

Tn  an  old  house,  but  with  a  pretty  garden  in  the 
rear,  and  flowers  at  the  w^indows,  with  some  half- 
dozen    well    trained    nursery    maids    for    the    tiny 

189 


The  Better  New  York 

children,  and  a  kindergarten  for  the  somewhat 
older  ones,  is  the  appropriately  named  Sunnyside 
Day  Nursery,  at  231  East  One  Hundredth  and 
Fourth   Street. 

At  303  East  One  Hundred  and  Ninth  Street, 
in  the  midst  of  ''Little  Italy,"  is  one  of  the  indus- 
trial schools  of  the  American  Eemale  Guardian 
Society. 

At  174  East  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street  is 
the  Aguilar  Free  Library,  established  in  1886  by 
those  who  were  interested  in  Jewish  communal 
afifairs.  Four  branches  were  opened  in  localities 
where  the  Jewish  population  was  most  dense,  but 
in  1903  all  these  branches  were  merged  into  the 
New  York  Library  system,  and  all  lost  their  iden- 
tity except  this  one,  which  occupies  the  building 
erected  by  the  Aguilar  Free  Library  Society.  The 
society  got  its  name  from  Grace  Aguilar,  a 
Hebrew  writer. 


DIVISION  X 

Above  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street  to  Kingshridge. 

The  stretch  of  green  at  Madison  Avenue  and 
One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Street,  with  a  nat- 
ural rocky  elevation  in  the  center,  called  Mt. 
Morris  Park,  is  the  highest  point  on  tiie  island 
of  Manhattan,  in  days  ot  old  this  point  was 
called  by  the  Dutch,  Slag  Berge,  or  Snake  Hill. 
More  than  half  a  century  ago,  the  bell  tower 
which  now  crowns  it,  was  put  there.  Harlem 
then  was  a  village,  and  to  the  south  were  other 
villages — Yorkville,  Bloomingdale  and  Manhat- 
tanville.  After  the  tower  had  been  erected, 
three  bell  ringers  were  appointed  and  a  man  sat 
night  and  day  with  a  telescope  in  his  hand  on  the 
outlook   for   fires.      When    the    smallest    indication 

190 


Above  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street 

was  noticed  the  bell  was  set  clanging,  a  certain 
number  ot  strokes  denotnig  each  district.  To  this 
call  the  volunteer  firemen  responded  with  all  the 
alacrity  possible,  pulling  their  cumbersome  appa- 
ratus after  them.  As  times  changed,  and  new 
methods  for  locating  fires  and  giving  the  alarm 
were  used,  though  the  old  tower  was  no  longer 
needed,  it  was  still  under  the  direction  of  the  fire 
department,   as   it  is  today. 

The  pioneers  of  Dutch  civilization,  as  it  crept 
northward  over  the  Island  of  Manhattan,  had  their 
eyes,  as  early  as  1636,  on  what  had  been  an  Indian 
village  just  below  Mt.  Morris  Park  of  today. 
The  river  close  by  had  the  same  name  as  the  vil- 
lage— Muscoota,  meaning  the  flats  or  meadows. 
The  thrifty  Hollanders  were  attracted  by  the  fer- 
tility of  this  section,  and  soon  arose  the  little  vil- 
lage close  to  Snake  Hill  (the  spot  that  is  now  Mt. 
Morris  Park),  which  proved  the  forerunner  of 
the  settlement  known  as  New  Harlem,  a  name 
which  has  always  clung  to  that  section  of  New 
York,  although  Richard  Nicolls,  the  English  Gov- 
ernor, made  efforts  to  fasten  the  name  of  Lancas- 
ter upon  it. 

The  oldest  city  branch  of  the  Young  ]\Ien's 
Christian  Association,  quartered  since  its  estab- 
lishment in  1868  in  several  places,  is  now  pleas- 
antly located  in  a  building  of  its  own  at  5  West 
One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  Street.  The  gym- 
nasium and  athletic  fields  have  proved  not  only 
places  of  recreation,  physical  development_,  and 
good  fellowship,  but  strong  helps,  leading  to 
higher  and  more  spiritual  interests.  Evening 
educational  classes  in  commercial  and  scientific 
courses  have  also  proved  most  successful,  and  hun- 
dreds of  young  men  from  homeless  boarding 
houses  find  its  social  features  just  what  is  needed 
to  keep  them  from  the  temptations  of  the  city. 

At  218  East  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth 
Street  are  the  headquarters  of  the  Harlem  Branch 
of  the  New  York  Public  Library.  In  1892  a  small 
distributing  station  was  opened  in  Harlem,  but  the 
unusual  demand  for  books  there  made  it  necessary 
to  open  a  real  branch. 

191 


The  Better  New  York 

At  the  foot  of  East  One  Hundred  and  Twelfth 
Street  is   one   of  the  city's   recreation  piers. 

In  the  midst  of  Little  Italy,  along  the  East 
River,  between  One  Hundred  and  Eleventh  and 
One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Streets,  is  one  of 
the  recently  acquired  small  parks — a  place  of 
recreation  and  rest,  w^ith  beautiful  lawns  and  long 
lines  of  benches;  there  is  a  modern  gymnasium, 
band  concerts,  and  everything  that  can  brighten 
the  lives  of  the  people  of  the  neighborhood. 

In  the  Wadleigh  High  School  for  Girls  at  One 
Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Street  and  Lenox  Ave- 
nue, with  its  very  beautiful  entrance  of  heavy  oak 
doors  in  their  natural  color,  is  a  good  example  of 
the  French  Gothic  architecture.  This  school  has 
all  the  modern  appliances,  laboratories,  gymna- 
siums, baths  and  classrooms. 

At  One  Hundred  and  Ninth  Street  and  Amster- 
dam Avenue  is  the   National  Academy  of  Design. 


The  I.'nconscious   Influence   of  Art;   Wadleigh   High   School. 


Above  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street 

in  1815,  when  Professor  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  in- 
vited a  number  of  artist  friends  to  spend  an  eve- 
ning at  his  home.  Before  the  evening  was  over, 
they  had  agreed  to  meet  once  a  week  in  a  similar 
manner.  This  was  the  germ  of  the  Academy, 
which  was  founded  in  1826.  Professor  Morse  was 
the  first  president,  and  was  re-elected  to  the  ofBce 
for  sixteen  succeeding  years.  Pie  delivered  be- 
fore the  Academy  the  first  course  of  lectures  on 
fine  arts  in  this  country.  The  first  exhibition  was 
held  in  a  single  room  in  Broadway.  Now  it  is 
the  foremost  art  institution  in  this  country.  An 
exhibition  of  new  paintings  is  held  every  year, 
when  prizes  are  given  ranging  from  $100  to  $300. 
The  school  is  open  to  both  sexes,  and  the  prin- 
ciples of  art  are  taught  chiefly  through  the  study 
of  antique  sculpture  and  living  models,  and  by 
means  of  lectures  and  composition  classes.  In  the 
same  building  is  the  American  Water  Color  So- 
ciety, instituted  in  1866  with  the  object  of  further- 
ing the  interests  of  painting  in  water  colors  by 
exhibitions,  where  works  of  distinguished  mem- 
bers and  other  artists  are  displayed  and  sold. 

jMorningside  Park,  an  irregular  piece  of  ground 
of  more  than  thirty-two  acres,  extends  northward 
from  the  northwest  corner  of  Central  Park  to 
One  Hundred  and  Twenty-third  Street,  where  it 
ends  in  a  high  blult.  Here  may  be  found  the  ruin 
of  a  blockhouse,  one  of  the  defenses,  during  the 
Revolution,  to  protect  the  city  upon  the  north. 
The  park  contains  many  beautiful  shrubs,  and 
some  fine  trees.  The  massive  stone  battlements 
on  the  west  supporting  the  bluff,  and  overhung 
with  rich  ivy,  and  the  broad  flights  of  steps  lead- 
ing upward,  form  a  picturesque  old-world  feature. 

To  the  east  of  IMorningside  Park,  in  the  square 
at  the  junction  of  Morningside  and  ^Manhattan 
avenues,  below  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth 
Street,  is  a  colossal  bronze  statue  of  Washington 
and  Lafayette.  It  was  made  in  France  under  the 
direction  of  M.  Bartholdi,  who  designed  the  Statue 
of  Liberty.  It  is  an  exact  reproduction  of  a  group 
to  be  seen  in  the  Place  des  Etats  Unis,  Paris. 

10.^ 


The  Better   New  York 

The  Cathedral  of  St.  John  the  Divine  (Protes- 
tant Episcopal),  Amsterdam  Avenue,  at  One  Hun- 
dred and  Tenth  Street,  will  be,  when  completed, 
one  of  the  finest  in  the  United  States.  The  corner 
stone  was  laid  December  2'],  1892.  The  whole  ex- 
ternal length  will  be  520  feet:  w^idth  across  front, 
192;  across  transepts,  296  feet;  height  of  central 
spire,  445  feet  from  the  floor.  As  the  site  of  the 
Cathedral  is  loft3^  the  spire  will  be  in  reality  545 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  city.  The  nave  will  be 
180  feet  long.  Services  are  now  held  in  the  cr3'pt^ 
and  are  attended  by  large  congregations. 

On  the  heights  above  One  Hundred  and  Thir- 
teenth Street  is  St.  Luke's,  a  general  hospital  free 
to  those  certihed  as  being  unable  to  pay  and  as 
worthy  objects  of  charity,  all  others  becoming  pay 
patients.  This  institution  represents  the  earliest 
effort  in  church  work  to  provide  a  general  hospital 
for  the  sick,  without  distinction  of  race  or  creed. 
The  idea  was  conceived  by  the  Rev.  William 
Augustus  Muhlenberg,  in  1846,  then  rector  of  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Communion,  at  Twentieth 
Street  and  Sixth  Avenue.  On  a  Sunday  in  Octo- 
ber, 1846,  Dr.  Muhlenberg  announced  to  his  con- 
gregation that  of  the  offerings  of  the  day,  one- 
half  would  be  set  aside  as  the  beginning  of  a 
fund  for  an  institution,  the  object  of  which  would 
be  the  relief  of  the  sick  poor.  Thirty  dollars  were 
contributed  that  Sunday,  and  the  work  begun 
that  day  continued  until  1851,  when  the  board  of 
managers  announced  that  $100,000  had  been  raised. 
By  that  time  the  hospital  had  quarters  in  a  trans- 
formed dwelling  house  next  door  to  the  church, 
at  330  Sixth  Avenue,  and  there  remained  until 
t8.s6,  when  the  buildings  on  Fifth  Avenue  and 
Fifty-fourth  Street  were  ready  for  occupation. 
There  the  hospital  had  a  home  until  1896,  when 
it  removed  to  its  present  magnificent  site  on 
Cathedral  Heights. 

A  palatial  building,  demanding  at  once  the  at- 
tention of  the  passer-by,  is  St.  Luke's  Home  for 
old  ladies  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  faith. 
This  is  on  Broadway,  at  One  Hundred  and  Thir- 

194 


Above  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street 

teenth    Street,    and    is    monumental    for    this    form 
of  help  to  the  older  generation. 

At  One  Hundred  and  Twelfth  Street  and  Am- 
sterdam Avenue,  those  who  having  been  accus- 
tomed to  the  comforts  of  life  and  in  their  declining 
years  find  themselves  left  without  adequate  means 
of  support,  have  a  permanent  resting  place,  in  the 
Home  for  Old  Men  and  Aged  Couples,  a  Protes- 
tant institution,  one  of  the  very  oldest  in  the  city. 

On  Morningside  Heights  are  the  buildings  of 
Columbia  University,  whose  history  dates  back 
more  than  a  century  and  a  half.  Columbia  Col- 
lege was  founded  in  1754,  as  King's  College.  In 
1784,  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  King's  Col- 
lege became   Columbia   College. 

In  1890,  the  college  which  had  served  New 
York  so  long  and  so  well  became  the  modern 
many-sided  university  of  which  the  old  Columbia 
College  was  the  foundation.  In  a  new  and  fitting 
home  on  a  site  of  great  beauty  and  appropriate- 
ness, it  has  now  quietly  and  naturally  taken  its 
place  as  one  of  the  small  group  of  truly  national 
universities.  The  library  of  the  university,  archi- 
tecturally, is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  features, 
and  now  numbers  more  than  300,000  volumes. 
The  term  Columbia  University  is  now  used  in  two 
distinct  senses.  Technically  it  means  the  various 
departments  of  educational  work  carried  on  under 
the  immediate  jurisdiction  of  the  trustees  of 
Columbia  College;  educationally,  and  as  the  term 
is  interpreted  by  the  public  at  large,  it  includes  the 
work  of  the  Barnard  College  (college  for  women) 
and  of  Teachers  College,  now  one  of  the  greatest 
of  pedagogical   institutions   in  the  country. 

A  tablet  fixed  to  one  of  the  buildings  of  Colum- 
bia Univpt-ci'tv  serves  as  a  constant  reminder  of  the 
Battle  of  Harlem  Heights.  These  heights,  now 
crowned  by  great  educational  structures,  were  in 
the  days  of  the  Revolution  open  fields,  with  now 
and  again  wooded  spots  commanding  a  view  of 
the  Hudson  River  and  surrounding  country.  Here, 
in  September,  1776,  the  famous  battle  was  fought, 
which,  by  its  unqualified  victory  for  the  American 

195 


The  Better  New  York 

Army,  served  as  a  strong  tonic  to  the  depressed 
soldiers,  whose  spirits  had  been  greatly  affected 
by  their  recent  defeat  on   Long   Island. 

Just  to  the  north  of  the  ground  of  Columbia 
University,  between  Broadway  and  Amsterdam 
Avenue,  at  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  and  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-first  Streets,  are  the  fine 
new  buildings  of  Teachers  College.  Founded  in 
1886,  with  four  students  in  one  small  room,  it 
has  steadily  increased,  until,  in  1894,  it  occupied 
its  own  buildings.  In  1898  it  became  a  part  of  the 
educational  system  of  Columbia  University  for  the 
training  of  teachers  of  both  sexes,  of  specialists  in 
various  branches  of  school  work,  of  principals, 
supervisors,  and  superintendents  of  schools.  Con- 
nected with  it  is  the  Bryson  Library,  open  without 
charge  to  students  and  teachers  of  New  York  City 
and  vicinity.  Students  are  required  to  demon- 
strate their  ability  to  teach  and  judge  of  teaching, 
and  to  plan  courses  of  study. 

The  Horace  Mann  School,  a  large  private  school, 
close  by  Teachers  College,  and  connected  with  it, 
furnishes  every  opportunity  to  observe  good  teach- 
ing, and  to  establish  a  practical  standard  of  merit. 

Close  by  are  the  new  buildings  of  Barnard  Col- 
lege for  women,  occupying  the  block  running  from 
Broadway  to  Claremont  Avenue,  at  One  Hundred 
and  Twentieth  Street,  and  forming  three  sides  of 
a  square,  open  towards  the  south.  This  college  is 
named  in  honor  of  President  Barnard  of  Columbia 
and  became  a  department  of  Columbia  University 
in  1900.  It  is  an  independent  corporation,  but 
closely  affiliated  with  the  university,  its  examina- 
tions being  conducted  by  Columbia  instructors,  or 
persons  approved  by  the  President  of  Columbia. 
It  opened  with  nine   students   in   1899. 

The  Speyer  School  of  Teachers  College,  for 
practise  work,  is  in  Lawrence  Street,  just  west 
of  Amsterdam  Avenue.  The  building  follows 
the  architecture  of  the  German  Renaissance,  its 
high-stepped  gable  being  particularly  characteris- 
tic of  the  style  prevailing  in  North  Germany  in  the 
middle    of    the    sixteenth    century.      The    basement 

196 


Above  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street 

contains  a  large  and  well-equipped  gymnasium. 
On  the  first  floor  are  the  kindergarten  rooms,  the 
principal's  oflice  and  two  public  libraries,  one 
for  children  and  one  for  adults.  The  second  and 
third  stories  contain  eight  bathrooms,  all  well 
lighted  and  handsomely  furnished.  The  fourth 
floor  is  devoted  to  special  rooms  for  cooking,  sew- 
ing, bench  work,  and  other  manual  arts.  The  resi- 
dents devote  themselves  not  to  classroom  instruc- 
tion, but  to  the  direction  of  clubs  for  children  and 
adults,  and  to  other  forms  of  school  extension 
work  during  the  afternoon  and  evenings. 
The  roof  serves  as  a  recreation  ground  and  gar- 
den for  the  children  and  residents  of  the  school, 
and  for  the  people  of  the  community  in  general. 
Here  is  to  be  found  a  plot  of  earth  for  practical 
gardening,  carried  on  by  children  of  the  primary 
grades.  The  leading  purpose  of  the  school  is  to 
furnish  properly  qualified  students  of  Teachers 
College  with  the  opportunity  for  actual  teaching, 
under  expert  supervision  and  criticism. 

At  Amsterdam  Avenue  and  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-ninth  Street  is  the  "Sheltering  Arms," 
which  was  founded  in  1864  for  homeless  children, 
for  whom  no  other  institution  provides.  A  char- 
acteristic feature  of  the  institution  is  that  children 
are   received  temporarily,   subject  to  the   order   of 

New  Use  for  City  Piers;   Recreation  Above,   Freight   Below. 


The  Better  New  York 

parents  or  guardians,  and  are  not  surrendered  to 
the  institution.  They  are  given  a  grammar-school 
education,  and  are  trained  to  household  and  other 
work. 

At  the  foot  of  West  One  Hundred  and  Thirtieth 
Street,  North  River,  is  another  of  the  city's  recre- 
ation piers. 

The  brown  stone  buildings,  standing  in  the 
midst  of  a  large  and  well-elevated  wooded  park 
at  St.  Nicholas  Avenue  and  One  Hundred  and 
Thirtieth  Street,  are  the  Academy  of  the  Convent 
of  the  Sacred  Heart,  one  of  the  oldest  and  best 
known  of  the  convent  schools  in  this  country. 

At  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third  Street  and 
Broadway  is  the  Colored  Orphan  Asylum,  for  the 
benefit  of  colored  children.  Orphans  of  both  sexes 
between  the  ages  of  two  and  ten  are  received  and 
provided  for  gratuitously,  except  those  intrusted 
to  the  institution  by  a  guardian,  who  must  pay 
seventy-five  cents  per  week.  All  the  children  are 
instructed  in  home  industries,  and,  at  the  age  of 
twelve,  are  indentured  into  families  or  trades.  A 
carefully  organized  system  looks  to  making  the 
children  useful  and  able  to  take  care  of  themselves 
when  they  leave  the  institution. 

From  Broadway  to  the  Hudson  River,  from 
One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  to  One  Hundred  and 
Fifty-eighth  Street,  is  a  pretty  green  spot  with 
suburban  cottages  called  Audubon  Park.  It  takes 
its  name  from  John  James  Audubon,  the  ornitholo- 
gist, who  built  a  house  here  in  1840,  living  here 
with  his  family  until  his  death  in  1851.  This  home 
still  stands,  and  close  by  in  the  Trinity  Cemetery, 
which  takes  in  part  of  the  old  Audubon  estate,  he 
was  buried,  and  there  may  be  seen  a  very  mag- 
nificent monument  to  his  memory.  It  was  in  this 
old  Audubon  house  when  Audubon  was  living, 
in  1843,  that  Professor  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  made 
a  trial  of  the  electric  telegraph,  and  here  the  first 
message  ever  sent  over  a  wire  for  any  distance 
was  received. 

In  1891,  some  of  the  young  men  of  Washington 
Heights    began   to   realize     the     need   of   a   resort 

198 


Above  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street 

which  would  attract  the  boys  and  young  men  of 
the  neighborhood,  and  serve  to  keep  them  from 
the  po.ol  rooms  and  the  saloons.  As  a  result  the 
Washington  Heights  Branch  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  was  formed.  For  a  time 
it  met  in  rented  rooms,  but  soon  the  present  build- 
ing at  531  West  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth 
Street  was  purchased.  It  has  a  gymnasium  with  a 
trained  director,  reading-room,  bowling  alley, 
shower  baths,  educational  and  Bible  classes,  social 
clubs  and  religious  meetings. 

In  nearby  St.  Nicholas  Avenue,  at  One  Hun- 
dred and  Fifty-sixth  Street,  is  the  building  of  the 
Washington  Heights  Free  Library,  a  branch  of 
the  New  York  Public  Library.  It  was  incorpo- 
rated in  1868,  and  in  1883  Mr.  J.  Hood  Wright 
left  the  sum  of  $100,000  for  the  use  of  the  library. 
There  is  no  library  in  the  city  that,  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  volumes,  has  so  large  a  number 
of  readers  as  this. 

Here  at  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  Street 
is  the  beginning  of  the  Harlem  River  Driveway, 
usually  called  the  Speedway,  one  of  the  best  and 
most  picturesque  driving  roads  in  any  American 
city.  It  has  its  starting  point  at  One  Hundred 
and  Fifty-fifth  Street,  on  the  western  shore  of 
the  Harlem  River,  and  thence  follows  the  winding 
of  the  river  street  above  high-water  mark  for 
something  more  than  three  miles.  Almost  each 
rod  of  the  way  gives  a  different  view.  There  are 
easy  descents,  level  stretches  and  gentle,  graceful 
curves,  from  which  are  caught  unexpected  changes 
of  scene,  sweeping  by  wooded  slopes,  deep  ra- 
vines, steep  cliffs,  and  under  bridge  arches.  This 
road  has  a  total  width  of  from  125  to  150  feet, 
of  which  the  roadway  itself  covers  an  average 
width  of  ninety-five  feet,  the  rest  of  the  space  being 
taken  up  by  walks  on  either  side  for  pedestrians. 
Though  the  building  of  the  Speedway  was  owing 
to  the  efforts  in  1892  of  rich  men  owning  valuable 
horses,  who  desired  some  place  to  speed  them,  it 
is  as  free  to  the  general  public  today  as  any  other 
road  in  the  city.  A  man  whose  horse  is  all  he 
owns    (if  the  horse  possesses  any  speed)    can  try 

199 


The  Better  New  York 

him  against  the  most  costly  animal  owned  by  a 
multi-millionaire.  As  the  Speedway  is  easily  ac- 
cessible by  the  elevated  and  surface  roads,  scores 
of  pedestrians  who  admire  good  horses  and  pic- 
turesque surroundings  are  found  along  its  foot- 
paths, and  the  weary  can  always  find  a  seat  on  the 
low  coping  of  the  retaining  wall. 

On  an  eminence  near  where  the  Speedway  has 
its  start,  above  One  Hundred  and  Sixtieth  Street, 
stands  the  Morris  Mansion,  noticeable  at  once 
as  different  from  all  the  buildings  that  surround  it. 
It  is  one  of  the  colonial  survivals,  the  home  where, 
before  the  Revolution,  lived  Roger  Morris  and 
his  wife — she  who  had  been  Mary  Philipse,  an 
early  love  of  Washington's.  Here,  too,  Wash- 
ington at  one  time  had  his  headquarters.  In  after 
days  it  was  the  home  of  Madame  Jumel,  and  here 
she  married  Aaron  Burr. 

Half  a  mile  beyond  the  Morris  Mansion  is  a 
bridge  of  peculiar  design  crossing  the  Harlem 
River.     This    is    High    Bridge,   built   to   carry    the 

Home  for  Deaf  and  Dumb. 


^^■icw 


\      1 


;i— TirSlhlfeii 


Individual  Care  for  Dependent  Children. 

pipes  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct,  which  brings  water 
into  the  city  from  the  Croton  Lake.  To  the  north 
and  south  of  where  High  Bridge  touches  the 
Manhattan  shore,  and  extending  along  the  bluff 
above  the  Speedway,  is  a  well-wooded  park,  which 
the  city's  landscape  gardeners  have  improved 
without  detracting  from  its  natural  beauty. 

Uniquely  and  delightfully  situated  on  a  high 
bank  overlooking  the  Hudson,  at  Broadway  and 
One  Hundred  and  Sixty-third  Street,  the  build- 
ings, really  magnificent  as  they  stand  grouped  to- 
gether surrounded  by  beautiful  lawns  and  fine  old 
trees,  is  the  only  military  school  for  the  deaf  in 
the  world,  and  the  first  oral  school  for  the  deaf 
established  in  America.  This  is  the  New  York 
Institute  for  the  Instruction  of  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb,  which  accommodates  500  inmates  and  a 
free  school  for  all  deaf  children  of  the  State. 
A  fee  is  charged  for  children  not  residing  in  the 
State.  Every  known  instrument  and  aid  which 
is  of  value  in  their  education  is  used.  The  course 
of  study  is  equivalent  to  that  of  common  schools 
and  academies,  and  in  addition,  a  mechanical  trade 
is  given  to  each  male  pupil,  while  the  girls  are 
taught    dressmaking   and   cooking. 


201 


The  Better  New  York 

On  the  point  of  land  known  as  Washington 
Heights,  at  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-sixth  Street 
and  Amsterdam  Avenue,  is  the  New  York  Juvenile 
Asylum,  commanding  a  magnificent  view  of  the 
Hudson  River,  the  Palisades,  the  Harlem  River, 
Long  Island  Sound  and  of  the  country  for  miles 
around.  The  grounds  contain  nearly  twelve  acres. 
This  institution  is  a  reformatory  for  truant  and 
disorderly  children  of  both  sexes,  committed 
by  magistrates  or  surrendered  by  parents  or 
guardians.  It  provides  hordes  in  the  country  for 
friendless,  destitute  and  homeless  children,  first 
giving  them  an  excellent  education,  and  in  many 
cases  industrial  training.  It  is  the  largest  Protes- 
tant children's  asylum  in  America,  and  since  its 
organization  in  1853  has  influenced  the  lives  of 
almost  40,000  New  York  boys  and  girls,  and  has 
secured  homes  in  the  far  West  for  more  than  6,000 
children. 

A  point  of  land,  extending  into  the  Pludson 
River  at  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-seventh  Street, 
is  the  most  prominent  part  of  Fort  Washington 
Park  in  natural  and  beautiful  wildness.  During 
the  War  of  the  Revolution,  Fort  Washington  was 
situated  on  this  rocky  point.  Here  General  Howe 
of  the  English  army  made  an  attack  soon  after 
the  battle  of  Harlem  Heights.  The  American 
soldiers  in  the  fort,  of  whom  there  were  about 
3.000,  thought  themselves  quite  secure  in  such  a 
high  and  well-fortified  position,  and  would  prob- 
ably have  remained  so,  had  not  one  of  their  num- 
ber turned  traitor,  and  told  the  British  how  the 
fortress  could  be  best  attacked,  and  how  mnny 
men  were  within  to  defend  it.  The  British 
stormed  the  fort  successfully,  and  every  one  of  the 
soldiers  who  had  not  been  killed  was  made  pris- 
oner. This  surrender  of  Fort  Washington 
proved,  in  fact,  the  conclusion  of  the  actual  fight 
for  liberty  in  New  York. 

Near  historic  Fort  George,  at  One  Hundred 
and  Ninetieth  Street  and  Amsterdam  Avenue,  is 
the  Isabella  Heimath,  a  home  for  the  care  and 
maintenance  of  aged  persons  of  fair  average 
Iiealth  who  are  unable  to  support  themselves,  and 

202 


The  Bronx 

who  have  no  near  relatives  legally  bound  to  care 
for  them.  There  is  no  distinction  in  sex,  creed, 
or  nationality.  It  is  also  a  hospital  for  chronic 
invalids,  and  a  home  for  convalescents.  Any 
qualified  person,  deemed  worthy,  is  taken  free  of 
charge.  It  takes  its  name  from  Isabella  Uhl,  in 
whose  memory  her  mother,  Mrs.  Annie  Otten- 
dorfer,  founded  the  institution  in  1875.  It  was 
then  located  in  Astoria,  L.  I.,  but  grew  beyond 
the  small  limits  there  until  the  present  spacious 
building  was  erected  in  1899. 


DIVISION  XI 
The  Bronx. 


A  distinctive  feature  of  the  Borough  of  The 
Bronx  (that  portion  of  New  York  City  above 
the  Harlem  River)  is  its  system  of  parks,  consid- 
ered among  the  finest  in  the  world.  Twenty  years 
ago  there  were  no  parks  at  all  in  this  district.  In 
1883  an  act  of  the  legislature  was  passed,  under 
which  the  mayor  appointed  a  commission  of  citi- 
zens to  locate  certain  lands  that  would  be  desir- 
able for  this  purpose.  This  commission  made  its 
report  in  1884,  suggesting  the  land  now  St.  Mary's 
Park,  Claremont  Park,  Crotona  Park,  Van  Cort- 
landt  Park,  Pelham  Bay  Park,  Bronx  Park,  Bronx 
and  Pelham  parkway,  Crotona  parkway  and  Mo- 
shohi  parkway,  aggregating  4,000  acres,  and  this 
land  was  acquired  by  the  city  in  1888. 

Beginning  with  the  most  westerly  park  limit, 
Spuyten  Duyvil  parkway  varies  from  200  to  400 
feet  in  width,  and  from  the  junction  of  Spuyten 
Duyvil  Creek  and  Hudson  River  extends  to  Van 
Cortlandt  Park,  thus  forming  the  connecting  link 
between  the  system  of  parkways  in  Manhattan 
and  those  of  the  Bronx. 

Van  Cortlandt  Park^  in  area  1,132  acres,  is  the 
second  largest  park  in  the  Borough  of  The  Bronx, 
and  is  of  interest  because  of  the  ground  having 
taken  a  very  prominent  part  in  the  War  of  the 
Revolution.    Within  its  limits  is  the  old  Van  Cort- 

203 


The  Better  New  York 

landt  mansion,  erected  in  1748,  and  occupied  for 
a  time  during  the  war  by  General  Washington  as 
a  headquarters.  This  park  contains  a  parade 
ground,  the  finest  in  the  State,  which  was  devel- 
oped for  the  use  of  the  National  Guard  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  comprises  about  seventy- 
five  acres.  Its  lake  is  used  during  the  winter 
season  by  as  many  as  15,000  skaters  in  a  day,  and 
its  golf  links  by  1,000  players  a  day.  The  Van 
Cortlandt  Mansion  has  been  turned  over  to  the 
Colonial  Dames,  and  is  famous  as  a  museum  for 
Revolutionary  relics. 

Mosholu  Parkway  leads  direct  from  Van  Cort- 
landt to  the  Bronk  Park.  It  is  something  more 
than  6,000  feet  long  and  600  feet  wide. 

Bronx  Park,  with  an  area  of  661  acres,  derives 
its  name  from  Jonas  Bronck,  who  came  from  Hol- 
land in  1639,  and  purchased  from  the  Indians 
about  500  acres  of  land  above  the  Harlem  River, 
there  establishing  a  great  farm,  or  bouwerie, 
which  after  his  death  was  called  Bronck's  Land. 
The  park  may  be  divided  into  three  sections,  and 
the  Bronx  Rixer  runs  directly  through  it  from 
north  to  south,  varying  in  width  from  50  to  400 
feet.  The  northern  section  is  occupied  by  the 
Botanical  Garden;  the  southern  section  by  the 
Zoological  Garden,  and  the  third  section  is  the 
park  proper.  In  the  Zoological  Park,  an  immense 
boulder,  weighing  probably  100  tons,  is  so  bal- 
anced upon  the  rock  where  it  was  lodged  by  some 
glacier  thousands  of  years  ago,  that  a  person  by 
an  ordinary  effort  can  set  it  rocking  to  and  fro. 

In  1898  the  New  York  Zoological  Society  of 
the  City  of  New  York  began  the  founding  of  an 
institution  devoted  to  the  exhibition  of  living 
forms  of  life.  Active  work  was  begun  in  1898,  and 
the  following  year  the  Zoological  Park  was  for- 
mally opened.  A  few  years  ago,  South  Bronx 
Park,  where  the  Zoological  Park  is  now,  was  a 
wild  and  inhospitable  wilderness,  lacking  every 
element  of  comfort  for  the  visitor,  and  to  a  great 
extent  unprotected.  Today  the  Zoological  Park 
is  fenced  and  protected  from  destructive  influences, 
contains    four   and   one-half  miles    of  walks,   5,850 

204 


The  Bronx 

feet  of  macadam  roadway^  and  1,900  feet  of  sewers 
and  drains.  Clean  and  wholesome  ponds  have 
taken  the  place  of  stagnant  bogs.  It  contains  300 
park  settees,  many  pavilions,  a  reptile  house,  a 
primate  house,  a  lion  house  and  an  aquatic  bird 
house.  All  these  are  as  liberal  in  design  and  rich 
in  execution  as  the  most  critical  could  desire.  In 
addition  to  these  heated  buildings,  there  are  many 
open-air  installations  for  animals,  some  of  an  im- 
posing character.  There  are  the  bear  dens,  repre- 
senting the  latest  development  in  the  care  of  bears. 
The  bears  are  grouped  in  nine  large  open  yards 
against  the  side  of  a  granite  cliff,  and  the  space 
allowed  is  abundant  for  exercise,  both  in  running 
and  climbing. 

There  are  wild  sheep,  goats,  and  ibex,  to  be 
found  on  Mountain  Sheep  Hill,  a  spot  that  a  few 
years  ago  was  an  unattractive  mass  of  boulders, 
old  walls,  and  rubbish,  but  now  converted  into  an 
imposing  landscape  feature,  the  natural  granite 
rock  'having  been  utilized  to  the  utmost  in  securing 
a  landscape  effect,  and  providing  a  natural  home 
for  the  animals. 

It  has  been  the  effort  of  the  society  to  give 
the  king  of  beasts  and  his  near  relatives  a  home 
that  should  be  in  keeping  with  the  dignity  of 
their  position  in  the  animal  world.  The  lion 
houses  of  Europe  were  carefully  studied  for  this 
purpose,  but  it  was  found  in  connection  with  all, 
that  the  shadow  of  the  iron  bar  was  over  them. 
It  had  been  agreed  that  there  w^as  small  satis- 
faction in  beholding  a  large,  fine  animal  im- 
prisoned in  narrow,  mean  quarters,  and  it  was 
thought  desirable  that  the  lions  should  have  the 
greatest  possible  amount  of  space  in  which  to  live, 
in  order  that  they  might  not  seem  to  be  prisoners. 
This  for  the  comfort,  health  and  convenience  of 
the  animals,  the  safety  of  the  keepers,  and  the 
requirements  of  the  public.  The  lion  house  of 
Zoological  Park,  therefore,  represents  the  greatest 
effort  of  the  society,  and  is  the  finest  building  in 
the  park.  Situated  in  a  commanding  position 
on  a  terrace,  it  conveys  the  impression  of  being 
a  much  larger  building  than  it  really  is.  The 
wealth   of   sculptured   stone   and   terra   cotta   pre- 

205 


The  Better  New  York 

sented,  the  realistic  carving  of  large  felines  Im- 
presses the  observer  at  once,  and  the  impression  is 
strengthened  by  the  two  life-size  sentinel  lions, 
carved  in  stone,  which  sit  on  either  side  of  the 
main  entrance.  The  structure  is  240  feet  in 
length,  and  more  than  100  feet  high.  The  in- 
terior cages  represent  a  great  innovation  in  the 
confinement  of  the  largest  animals.  Instead  of  the 
heavy  iron  bars,  hitherto  in  universal  use,  which 
cut  off  much  of  the  view  of  the  animals  and  sug- 
gest the  prison  idea,  the  fronts  of  these  cages  have 
been  fitted  with  wire  netting  specially  made.  The 
mesh  is  rectangular,  and  nearly  square,  measuring 
three  by  four  inches.  The  horizontal  wires  are 
those  which  are  relied  upon  to  resist  the  attacks 
of  the  animal.  They  are  all  of  hard  steel,  size  No. 
5,  and  each  wire  has  a  tensile  strength  of  about 
4,500  pounds.  Each  end  of  each  wire  is  wrapped 
around  a  heavy  frame  of  round  wrought  iron, 
twisted  tightly  upon  itself  and  the  end  soldered 
down.  The  whole  of  this  iron  work  has  been 
painted  a  dull  olive  green,  to  match  the  tiling  in 
the  interior  of  the  cage,  and  the  netting  comes 
as  near  to  being  invisible  as  anything  ever  can 
which  is  strong  enough  to  confine  lions  and  tigers 
of  the  largest  size. 

A  special  feature  designed  to  facilitate  the 
work  of  artists,  sculptors  and  students  is  a  spa- 
cious, well-lighted  room  at  one  end  of  the  building, 
wherein  twenty  artists  can  be  accommodated  while 
working  on  living  models.  Against  one  side  of 
this  room  a  large  cage  has  been  constructed,  with 
a  roof  of  plate  glass.  From  a  trap-door  in  the 
floor  of  this  cage  a  transfer  car  will  deliver  any 
animal  directly  into  it  from  the  cages.  The  ob- 
ject of  this  feature  is  to  encourage  and  promote 
the  work  of  serious-minded  animal  painters  and 
sculptors,    both    amateur   and    professional. 

There  are  other  magnificent  houses  for  the  four- 
footed  animals — a  great  reptile  house,  a  mam- 
moth flying  cage  for  birds,  which  is  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  park,  and  is  an  attempt  to  do  for 
certain  large  and  showy  water  birds,  what  has 
been  done  for  the  hoofed  animals,  that  is,  to  give 
them    a   section    of   nature's    own     domain.      The 

206 


The  Bronx 

aquatic  bird  house  is  an  attempt  to  solve  an  old 
problem  in  a  new  way — the  care  of  large  migra- 
tory water  birds  in  the  most  uneven  winter  cli- 
mate on  earth. 

The  dens  of  the  carnivorous  animals  contain 
many  interestsing  specimens,  while  the  antelope 
house,  the  ostrich  house,  the  prairie  dog  village, 
the  otter  pools,  and  those  of  the  sea  lions  are  all 
examples  of  the  excellent  management  of  the 
society.  There  are  about  3,000  specimens  in  the 
collection. 

The  New  York  Botanical  Garden  was  incorpo- 
rated in  1891,  when  the  legislature  provided  for 
the  appropriation  of  250  acres  of  Bronx  Park  for 
a  garden  and  museum,  for  the  collection  and  cul- 
ture of  plants,  flowering  shrubs  and  trees;  the  ad- 
vancement of  botanical  science,  the  prosecution  of 
original  research,  the  exhibition  of  ornamental 
and  decorative  horticulture,  and  for  the  entertain- 
ment, recreation  and  instruction  of  the  people. 
Since  that  time  buildings  have  been  reared  and 
roads  and  paths  laid  out  and  improved. 

The  land  here  is  most  diversified  in  character, 
and  affords  natural  scenery  unsurpassed  in  beauty 
in  the  vicinity  of  New  York.  The  Bronx  River 
traverses  the  garden.  There  are  low  meadows, 
marshy  ground,  woodlands  and  a  great  variety  of 
soil.  When  the  ground  was  taken  possession  of 
the  different  flora  were  examined,  and  found  to 
contain  not  less  than  one  thousand  kinds  of  plants, 
exclusive  of  the  fungi  and  lichens. 

The  Botanical  Museum  building,  the  chief 
structure  of  the  garden,  is  frank  and  dignified  in 
architectural  treatment,  in  the  style  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance,  300  feet  in  length,  and  its  height  to 
the  top  of  the  dome  is  no  feet.  This  building, 
with  all  that  it  contains,  is  open  free  to  visitors. 
There  is  a  lecture  theater,  with  a  capacity  of  700, 
where  courses  of  lectures  on  botany  are  main- 
tained and  illustrated  by  means  of  the  stereopti- 
con  and  specimens  of  the  living  plants  from  the 
garden. 

The  large  conservatories  are  composed  of 
fifteen  houses,  grouped  in  a  quadrangle,  con- 
structed throughout  in  accordance  with  the  most 

207 


The  Better  New  York 

modern  principles,  and  forming  what  is  consid- 
ered the  most  elegant  glass  house  in  the  world. 

The  vast  collections  contained  in  the  museum, 
in  the  conservatories,  and  the  surrounding  grounds 
are  brought  together  for  the  purpose  of  educating 
the  people  in  everything  pertaining  to  plants  and 
their  purposes.  The  grounds  and  buildings  are 
open  to  the  public  daily,  without  charge,  and  all 
information  freely  given.  The  garden  also  affords 
special  facilities  for  study  and  investigation  to 
teachers,  and  those  who  are  qualified  by  previous 
study  to  investigate  the  more  profound  problems 
of  plant  life. 

Columbia  University  has  deposited  in  the  mu- 
seum a  fine  herbarium,  collected  by  the  late  Pro- 
fessor Corey,  and  valued  at  $175,000.  Among 
other  striking  features  are  the  specimens  of  trop- 
ical vegetation — noble  palms,  some  of  which  are 
thirty  feet  high,  and  of  imposing  appearance. 

Bronx  and  Pelham  Parkway  is  the  connecting 
link  between  Bronx  and  Pelham  Bay  Park,  a 
stretch  12,000  feet  long,  having  a  width  of  about 
40Q  feet. 

Pelham  Bay  Park  contains  over  1,700  acres  with 
coastal  indentations,  including  picturesque  bays 
and  inlets,  an  open  water  front  on  the  Sound,  the 
bays  and  the  wooded  margin  of  Hunter's  Island, 
an  aggregate  shore  line  of  over  nine  miles,  and 
embraces  territory  which  is  unsurpassed  for  pur- 
poses of  public  recreation  by  any  park  in  the 
world.  This  section  has  great  colonial  interests. 
City  Island  is  close  by,  and  was  at  one  time  in  its 
early  history  laid  out  to  take  the  place  of  what 
New  York  City  is  at  the  present  day. 

Crotona  Parkway  is  the  connecting  link  between 
the  Bronx  Park  and  Crotona  Park. 

Crotona  Park  has  an  area  of  155  acres.  Up  to 
1902,  little  attention  was  given  to  its  improve- 
ment, but  it  has  lately  been  drained,  and  beautiful 
shade  trees  and  fine  flowering  shrubs  have  been 
planted  in  and  about  it.  A  new  grand  stand  has 
been  built  in  the  part  used  for  ball  games.  Band 
concerts  are  given  at  the  music  stand. 

208 


The  Bronx 

Pelham  Bay  Park  is  largely  undeveloped,  but 
there  are  good  golf  links,  a  few  other  places  of 
amusement  and  some  forty  bath  houses  have  been 
constructed  at  the  southern  end^  which  have  been 
opened  free  to  the  public. 

Claremont  Park  is  an  area  of  thirty-eight  acres. 
It  lies  on  very  high  natural  ground,  with  an  eleva- 
tion of  100  feet  in  places,  and  gives  an  extended 
view  of  the  surrounding  territory.  It  is  a  fully 
developed  park,  every  part  being  used  by  the  pub- 
lic, and  contains  many  tennis  courts  and  ball 
grounds. 

With  an  area  of  twenty-nine  acres,  St.  Mary's 
Park  was  formerly  a  portion  of  the  estate  of 
Gouverneur  Morris,  who  took  a  prominent  part  in 
the  convention  which  framed  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  who  was  also  a  delegate  to 
the  convention  which  gave  the  present  Constitu- 
tion to  our  own  State.  He  is  buried  in  the  ceme- 
tery beside  St.  Ann's  Church,  within  a  few  feet 
of  the  park. 

An  area  of  seventeen  acres  on  the  high  ridge 
between  Walton  and  Mott  Avenues  is  called  Franz 
Sigel  Park.     It  was  formerly  called  Cedar  Park. 

In  1902  Poe  Park  was  acquired.  It  lies  on  top 
of  a  hill  just  east  of  St.  James'  Park,  and  derives 
its  name  from  the  fact  that  the  cottage  where  the 
poet  Poe  used  to  live  is  still  standing  close  by  on 
Kingsbridge  Road. 

The  total  area  of  park  lands  in  the  Borough  of 
The  Bronx  is  4,078  acres. 

The  New  York  University,  on  University 
Heights,  north  of  One  Hundred  and  Eighty-first 
Street,  was  formerly  known  as  the  University  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  was  started  by  nine 
citizens  of  New  York,,  whose  first  meeting  was 
held  December  16,  1829.  These  founders  were 
public-spirited  business  and  professional  men,  and 
their  plans  from  the  beginning  included  nearly  all 
the  later  developments.  The  charter  for  the  col- 
lege was  enacted  in  1831,  and  the  work  for  many 
years  was  carried  on  in  Washington  Square.     In 

209 


The  Better  New  York 

1891  its  present  site  was  acquired  through  a  move- 
ment inaugurated  to  enlarge  the  work.  The 
University  comprises  eight  distinct  schools  and 
the  women's  law  classes,  all  endowed  except  three. 
At  University  Heights  is  to  be  found  the  Uni- 
versity College  and  the  School  of  Applied  Science, 
and  during  part  of  the  year  the  Summer  School 
holds  its  session  there.  The  schools  of  peda- 
gogy, of  finance,  commerce  and  accounts  and  the 
women's  law  classes  still  remain  at  the  Univer- 
sity building  on  Washington  Square,  while  the 
Graduate  School  divides  the  work  between  the 
two  places.  The  law  school  of  the  University, 
established  in  1835,  one  of  the  oldest  law  schools 
in  the  United  States,  conducts  its  courses  at  Wash- 
ington Square. 

In  1900  $100,000  was  given  the  University  for 
a  Hall  of  Fame,  in  which  were  to  be  enrolled 
the  names  of  great  Americans.  Fifty  names  were 
chosen  in  1900,  and  five  more  will  be  selected  each 
succeeding  five  years  through  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury. The  Hall  of  Fame  is  a  half-round  edifice, 
built  almost  entirely  of  granite,  connecting  two 
of  the  university  buildings.  It  comprises  a  mu- 
seum of  seven  rooms  on  the  ground  floor,  above 
which  extends  a  beautiful  colonnade  of  four  hun- 
dred feet.  Bronze  tablets,  upon  which  are  in- 
scribed quotations  from  the  works  or  sayings  of 
America's  great  men,  are  set  in  the  wall  which 
forms  the  base  of  the  colonnade,  and  through  its 
arches  are  to  be  seen  vistas  of  the  Hudson  and 
the  Palisades,  while  below  are  the  beautiful  ter- 
races stretching  from  the  base  of  the  building,  and, 
not  far  distant,  winding  here  and  there,  is  the 
Harlem  River. 

In  the  public  school  at  St.  Ann's  Avenue  and 
One  Hundred  and  Forty-seventh  Street  is  demon- 
strated a  totally  new  type  of  school  building,  show- 
ing that  it  is  possible  to  erect  schools  in  the  mid- 
dle of  a  block  instead  of  on  corners,  where,  for 
the  sake  of  light,  it  has  been  customary  to  choose 
the  site  for  such  buildings.  This  has  been  accom- 
plished through  the  *'H  building,"  where  two 
side  wings  are  connected  by  the  rear  portion  in- 
closing a  central  courtyard,  behind  an  ornamental 

210 


The  Bronx 

iron  fence  abutting  on  the  sidewalk.  By  this 
means  the  requisite  amount  of  light  and  air  are 
obtained.  This  especial  building  is  of  the  Renais- 
sance style. 

High  up  on  an  elevation  overlooking  the  Hud- 
son River,  where  Sedgwick  Avenue  crosses  One 
Hundred  and  Eighty-eighth  Street,  is  Webb's 
Academy  and  Home  for  Shipbuilders.  It  was 
equipped  in  1891  by  William  Henry  Webb,  who 
gave  an  endowment  for  its  maintenance  in  per- 
petuity. Its  purpose  is  to  afford  free  relief  and 
support  to  aged  and  unfortunate  men  who  have 
been  engaged  in  shipbuilding  in  the  United  States, 
together  with  their  wives  or  widows.  Its  char- 
acteristic feature,  however,  is  to  furnish  to  any 
young  man,  a  native  or  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  who  may  upon  examination  prove  himself 
of  good  character,  a  gratuitous  education  in  the 
art,  science  and  profession  of  shipbuilding  and 
marine  engine  building.  He  is  also  given  board, 
lodging,  and  the  necessary  implements  and  ma- 
terials while  obtaining  such  an  education. 

At  the  Mott  Haven  Junction  a  commodious 
new  building  has  been  erected^  called  the  John  M. 
Toucey     Memorial     Building,     for     the     railroad 

New  Use  for  a  Car. 


,,..^.^^;:^=^^ 
'■-i 


;     I  ?£:  £b=ttJ  j^  \         ,jn         1  /    '  | '  f 


Final  Evolution  of  the  Car. 

branch  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion. Mr.  Toucey  was  for  many  years  general 
manager  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad. 
The  hrst  abiding  place  of  this  branch  was  for  a 
long  time  in  a  railroad  car. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  spots  in  upper  New 
York,  beyond  Washington  Bridge,  where  a  hill 
surrounded  by  woods  slopes  down  to  the  Harlem 
River,  is  the  new  Home  for  the  Friendless,  pro- 
vided by  the  American  Female  Guardian  Society, 
and  also  serving  as  the  headquarters  of  the  organi- 
zation. This  society  had  its  origin  in  1834,  and 
was  one  of  the  results  of  a  genuine  religious  re- 
vival which  awakened  a  desire  in  a  few  earnest 
women  to  reach  out  to  the  afflicted  of  the  city. 
During  the  years  of  this  society's  work  nearly 
35,000  homeless  and  neglected  children  have  been 
cared  for.  In  the  new  home,  flooded  with  sun- 
shine and  fresh  air,  the  150  or  more  children  are 
surrounded  with  the  practical  comforts  and  tender 
care  which  fit  them  for  useful  and  good  lives  in 
the  homes  to  which  they  are  sent  or  in  their  own 
homes  to  which  they  may  be  returned  later.  The 
home    also    provides    twelve    industrial    schools    in 


212 


Where  Friendless  Children  are  Cared  for. 

various  parts  of  the  city  to  care  for  over  7,000 
children  a  year,  too  poor  and  dirty  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  overcrowded  public  schools.  Here 
the  children  are  washed,  clothed,  fed  and  taught. 
The  work  of  these  schools  extends  to  the  families, 
giving  practical  supplies  or  words  of  good  coun- 
sel to  the  overburdened  or  demoralized  parents. 
The  Board  of  Education  contributes  a  small  share 
of  the  expense  of  these  schools,  but  it  is  by  the 
efforts  of  the  Christian  women  who  have  man- 
aged this  charity  from  the  start  that  gifts  of 
money,  food  and  clothing  make  this  work  pos- 
sible. The  children  are  taught,  besides  the  usual 
branches,  cobbling,  basket-weaving,  wood-carving, 
cooking,  chair-caning,  and  thus  they  learn  to  earn 
and  save  money  in  an  interesting  and  wholesome 
way.  Some  of  these  children  are  each  summer 
given  an  outing  in  the  society's  two  country 
homes. 

In  the  extreme  northern  section  of  the  city  is 
St.  John's  College.  The  property  is  a  part  of  the 
old  Dutch  village  of  Fordham.  The  college  was 
opened  in  1841,  having  been  founded  by  Bishop 
John  Hughes,  later  the  first  Roman  Catholic  Arch- 
bishop of  New  York,  and  the  first  American  Cardi- 
nal.^ In  1846  an  act  of  incorporation  was  passed, 
raising  the  college  to  the  rank  of  a  university,  with 
power  to  grant  all  degrees  usually  granted  by  any 
other    university.     The    same    year    it    was    pur- 


213 


Not  Altogether  Friendless. 

chased  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers.  The  college  estate 
now  embraces  seventy  acres,  and  vast  reaches  of 
lawn  and  rows  of  fine  trees  surround  its  buildings. 
The  aim  of  the  college  is  to  afford  a  complete  lib- 
eral education  by  developing  and  training  the 
mind  and  heart,  and  not  merely  to  prepare  young 
men  for  professional  studies.  It  supposes  that  in 
business  life,  no  less  than  in  the  professions,  a 
young  man  needs  habits  of  attention,  application, 
and  accuracy.  These  habits  are  developed  and 
strengthened  by  the  course  of  studies.  Being 
under  Roman  Catholic  direction,  it  makes  a  pri- 
mary duty  of  instructing  the  students  in  the  doc- 
trine and  practises  of  that  Church,  though  this 
instruction  is  not  obtruded  on  students  of  other 
creeds. 

The  Catholic  Protectory,  at  Van  Ness  Station, 
cares  for  three  classes  of  destitute  children:  chil- 
dren under  fourteen  years  of  age  intrusted  for 
protection  or  reformation;  those  between  seven 
and  fourteen  committed  as  idle,  truant,  vicious,  or 
homeless  by  order  of  a  police  magistrate;  those 
of  like  age  and  duly  transferred  by  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Charities  and  Correction.  In  the  boys' 
protectory,  which  is  in  charge  of  the  Brothers  of 
the  Christian  Schools,  besides  a  suitable  education, 
the    boys    are   taught   trades.      In   the   girls'    pro- 

214 


The  Bronx 


tectory,  in  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  sew- 
ing and  other  useful  employments  are  taught. 

The  work  of  preparing  this  guide  book  would 
have  been  almost  impossible  without  the  informa- 
tional resources  of  the  American  Institute  of  So- 
cial Service  at  287  Fourth  Avenue.  In  a  work  of 
this  character  anything  like  detailed  treatment  has 
been  impossible;  types  have  been  selected  and  so 
described  that  the  inquirer  may  gain  a  working 
knowledge  of  the  movements  they  represent.  The 
Better  New  York  is  not  a  directory  or  an  ency- 
clopedia, but  an  introduction  to  the  higher  life  of 
New  York,  pleasurably  and  interestingly  effected. 
The  documents  and  special  reports  on  which  the 
book  is  based  are  classified  at  the  headquarters  of 
the  American  Institute  of  Social  Service,  where 
they  are  available  to  all  those  desirous  of  obtain- 
ing details  of  the  movements  described  in  The 
Better  New  York,  or  of  those  in  other  American 
Communities,  or  in  foreign  countries.  All  visitors, 
students  and  investigators  are  cordially  welcomed 
at  the  rooms  of  the  Institute,  where  they  will  have 
every  facility  for  pursuing  their  studies  or  in- 
quires. 

The  Canon  of  a  City  Street. 

NnnnuuLlpbGr. 


Afterword. 

A  great  city  is  a  little  world.  There  are 
gathered  together  "all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
men" — a  multiplicity  of  races,  of  languages,  of 
customs,  of  religions,  of  occupations,  of  needs,  of 
interests.  Most  dwellers  in  the  city  know  only 
the  stratum  in  which  they  themselves  live,  and  but 
little  of  that. 

The  city's  ignorance  of  itself  is  responsible  for 
many  abuses,  for  much  indifference,  and  for  not 
a  little  pessimism.  The  Better  New  York  has 
been  a  revelation  even  to  those  who  knew  the  best 
side  of  their  city.  The  reader  no  longer  wonders 
at  the  many-handed  philanthropies,  as  various  as 
human  needs,  but  admires  the  versatile  ingenuity 
of  the  spirit  of  helpfulness,  until  he  is  convinced 
that,  if  New  York  is  one  of  the  worst  cities  in  the 
world,  it  is  also  one  of  the  best.  He  appreciates 
the  fact  that  the  better  life  of  the  city  has  not  been 
dissected  as  in  a  directory  and  left  as  dead,  as  are 
all  subjects  of  dissection.  It  is  vital  with  human 
interest,  and  that  interest  has  been  sustained  from 
first  to  last.  It  will,  therefore,  make  real  to  New 
Yorkers  scores  of  institutions  and  activities  which 
heretofore  have  been  only  names. 

It  will  thus  prove  valuable  to  all  who  are  inter- 
ested in  human  betterment,  whether  in  the  United 
States  or  Europe. 

JOSIAH  STRONG. 


216 


INDEX. 


Abingdon    Square,   74, 
Academy     of     Design,      Na- 
tional,  193. 

Academy  of  Medicine,  144. 

Actors'  Church  Alliance, 
110. 

Adler,    Dr.    Felix,    164. 

Adult  Education  in  Public 
Schools,  177. 

Aguilar  Free  Library  So- 
ciety,   44,   190. 

Alfred  Corning         Clark, 

Neighborhood   House,  51. 

American  Bible  Society,  60, 
61. 

American  Female  Guardian: 
Society  and   Home  for  the 
Friendless,     40,     52,     151, 
172,    190,    212-214. 
Industrial   School,   54. 

American    Institute,    145. 

American  Institute  of  So- 
cial   Service,   119-122,   215. 

American  Scenic  and  His- 
toric Preservation  So- 
ciety,  18. 

American  Seaman's  Friend 
Society,   14,   15. 

American  Water  Color  So- 
ciety,  193. 

Antiquities  in  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art,  158. 

lAquarium,    Public,   10. 

Architectural   League,    152. 

Architecture,  Public  School, 
33,   39,   171,   186,    192,   210. 

Armitage    Chapel,    147. _ 

Arnold,  Benedict,  Site  of 
Home,  13,  14. 

Arsenal,  156. 

Art  Museum,  see  Metro- 
politan. 

Art    Societies,    see    Societies. 

Art    Society,    Decorative,  127. 

Art  Students'   League,  151. 

Arthur,  Chester  A.,  Statue 
of,  115. 

Artists'    Aid    Society,    75. 

Artists'    Fund   Society,   75. 

Arts   Club,   National,   140. 


Association     for     Improving 

the      Condition      of      the 

Poor,   90,   117. 
Association         of  Sewing 

Schools,   94,   95. 
Association        of        Working 

Girls'     Societies,     40,     69, 

97,    101,    102. 
Avenue  B  Industrial  School, 

Children's    Aid     Society, 

104,  105. 


B 

Babcock   Memorial,   141. 
Baptist     Deaconess     Society, 
149. 

Mission   Society,   58,  59. 
Barnard    College,    195. 
Baron      de      Hirsch      Trade 

School,  180. 
Baths: 

Free,   90. 

Public,  90. 
Battery   Park,   9. 

Park   Playground,   11. 

The,   9. 
Beekman   House,  139. 
Bellevue   Hospital,  42,   111. 

Medical    College,   112. 
Bethlehem      Day       Nursery, 

113. 
Bethany  Memorial,   172. 
Bible  House,  60,  61. 

Society,    American,    61. 

Society,   New   York,   61. 
Blind,    Library    for   the,   170. 

New     York     Institute     for 
the,    101. 

Society    for    the    Relief    of 
the,  171. 
Bloomingdale  Village.   171. 
Board  of  Education,  112,  174- 

178. 
Bone  Alley,   52,  53. 
Botanical  Garden,  204,  207. 

Museum,    208. 
^ouwerie   Village,   59,   60. 
Bowery,  The,  44,  45. 
Bowling  Green,  12,  154. 
"Boys'    Club,"    57. 


217 


Index. 


Brace,     Charles    Loring,     19, 
116. 

Broadway    Tabernacle,    142. 

Bronx   Borough,   208. 
Parkway,   208-211. 

Bronze     Doors    of     St.     Bar- 
tholomew's   Church,    130. 

Bronzes       in       Metropolitan 
IMuseum   of  Art,   158. 

Burr,    Aaron,    Home    of,    67, 
68. 


Calvary    Church,   125. 

House,  111. 
Cash   Girls'   School,  79. 
Castle  Garden,  10. 
Catholic    Protectory,    214. 
Cathedral    of    St.    John    the 
Divine,    194. 
St.    Patrick's,    135. 
Central    Park,    see    Park. 
Century   Association,    144. 
Charity   Ball,   138. 
Charity     Organization     Soci- 
ety,  96,  120,   121. 
Chelsea  Village,   95. 
Children's    Aid    Society,    19, 
20,   41,   42,   117,   148. 
Elizabeth   Home  for   Girls, 

64. 
Industrial   Schools: 
Avenue   B,  104,   105. 
East    Side,   41,   42. 
German,    53. 
Henrietta,  162. 
Italian,    32,    33,    67. 
Jones    Memorial,   183. 
Lord    Memorial,    50. 
Mott   Street,   89. 
Rhinelander,    187. 
Sullivan   Street,   72. 
Tompkins   Square,   55. 
West  Side  Lodging  House, 
140. 
Children's  Charitable  Union, 
53. 
Court,  63,  64. 
House,   46,   47. 
School    Farm,   147. 
Chinatown,    28,    29. 
Chinese    Sunday-school,    181. 
Chinese  Theater,  28,  29. 
Choral    Union,    82,    83. 
Christian       Police       Associa- 
tion,   101. 
Workers'    Home,   63. 
Christodora  House,  55,   56 


Churches: 
All   Souls',  138,   178. 
Amity    Baptist,    149,    175; 
Association     for     the     Ad- 
vancement      of       Labor. 
110. 
Brick      Presbvterian,      128, 

141. 
Broadwav   Tabernacle,    142. 
Calvary, '125. 
Cathedral    of   St.    John   the 

Divine,   194. 
Christ,   141. 

Fifth   Avenue   Baptist,   147. 
Fifth      Avenue      Presbyte- 
rian,  137,   181. 
Of   the    Holy   Communion, 

92-94. 
Judson   ^Memorial,   73. 
Madison         Avenue         Re- 
formed,   139. 
Madison      Square     Presby- 
terian,   113. 
Of    the    Ascension,    81,    82. 
Of  the   Covenant,   128,  134. 
Of     the     Holy     Comforter, 

68 
Of   the    Holy    Trinity,    179, 

187. 
Of   the    Incarnation,    113. 
St.    Bartholomew's    130. 
St.    George's   105-107. 
St.    James's,    179,    186. 
St.   Mark's,   62. 
St.   Michael's,  170. 
St.       Patrick's      Cathedral, 

135. 
Of    St.    Paul    the    Apostle, 

161. 
St.  Thomas's,  136,  137,  172, 

173. 
Of  San  Salvatore,  90,  91. 
Of  Sea  and   Land,  23.     . 
Temperance      Society,      11, 

45,  46. 
Of      the      Transfiguration, 

114. 
Workers'   House,   186. 
Circulating        Library,        see 

Public   Library. 
City    and    Suburban    Homes 
Co.,  163-165,   181. 
Hall    Park.   16,   154. 
History  Club,  145. 
Improvement    Society,    116. 
Clara    de    Hirsch    Home   and 

Training    School,    181. 
Clinton    Hall,    85. 


2l8 


Inde:? 


Clubs: 
Far   and    Near,   39. 
Irene,    101,   102. 
Ivy,   97. 

Ivy,   Junior,   97. 
Coffee    Wagon,    11. 
College    of     Physicians     and 
Surgeons,   162. 
Settlement,  see  Settlement. 
Of  the  City  of  New  York, 
125. 
Colored      Orphan      Asylum, 

198.  ^ 
Columbia    University,   195. 
Conkling,    Roscoe,    Statue  of, 

115. 
Consumers'    League,    123. 
Convent       of       the       Sacred 

Heart,   198. 
Cooking   School,   New  York, 

123. 
Coopei    Settlement,  104. 
Union,    59,    60. 
Union    Park,    60. 
Co-operative      Social      Settle- 
ment   Society,    74. 
Cox,   S.    S.,   Statue  of,  85. 
Crippled      Children,      School 

for,  205. 
Crotona    Parkway,    208. 


Davis,    William    H.,    School, 

149. 
Day    Nurseries,    53. 
Bethlehem,    113. 
Bethany,  172. 
Sumy    Side,    190. 
Virginia,    53,   54,   119. 
Wayside,   110. 
Deaconess   Society,   149. 
Deaconesses'    Home,    187. 
Deaf    and     Dumb,     Institute 
for     the     Instruction     of, 
200. 
Deaf    Mutes,    Institution   for 
Improved    Instruction  of, 
180. 
Decorative   Art   Society,   127. 
De      Hirsch,      Baron,      Day 
School,   44. 
Clara,   Home  and  Training 

School,   181. 
Fund,    Baron,   14. 
Trade  ^  School,   180. 
Delmonico's,    130. 
Department      Store      Better- 
ment, 102,  103. 
De    Witt   Memorial    Church, 
50. 


Diet  Kitchen  Association, 
34,  54,   110,  139,  140. 

Doe  Ye  Nexte  Thinge  So- 
ciety,  70. 


Education,     Board     of,     112, 

175,   178. 
Educational   Alliance,   42,   43, 

44. 
Association,    Public,    145. 
History,    175-178. 
Ericsson,     John,     Statue     of, 

10. 
Ethical    Culture    Society,    42, 

43,   164. 
Exchange        for        Woman's 

Work,   131. 
Eye    and    Ear   Infirmary,    64. 


Farragut,      Admiral,      Statue 

of,    115. 
Federation    of    Churches,    12. 
Fine   Arts    Building,   151-153. 

Federation,    153. 
First   Carnegie   Library,    185. 

City   Hall,   16,   17. 

Habitation   of  White   Men, 
14. 

Model  Tenement,  42. 

Printer   in    New    York,    16. 

Tenement   House,    39. 
Five   Points,   30,   32. 

House     of     Industry,      155 
Worth    Street,    30,    31. 

Mission,    32. 
Fletcher   Street,   16. 
Floating   Church   of   Our   Sa- 
viour,   26. 
Floating    Hospitals,    128. 
Flower    and    Fruit    Mission, 

125. 
Foreigners'    Mission,    28. 
Fort   Clinton,   9,   161. 

Fish,  161. 

George,   202. 

Washington,   202. 
Foundling   Asylum,    180. 
Fresh     Air     Fund,     Tribune, 

17,   18. 
Friends'    Society,   108. 


General    Society   of    Mechan- 
ics   and    Tradesmen,    145. 
Theological    Seminary,    95, 
96. 


219 


Index. 


Geographical  Society,  Amer- 
ican,  169. 
Girls'    Elizabeth    Home    for, 
64. 

Friendly   Society  in  Amer- 
ica, 107. 
Technical  School,  Hebrew 

41,   42. 
Training  School  for,  136. 
God's   Providence  House,  46. 
Gospel       Mission       to       the 

Tombs,   38. 
Grace  Chapel,  6Q. 
Church,    83-85. 
Church    Settlement,    66. 
Institute,    16S. 
Mission    House,    67. 
Grant's   Tomb,   168. 
Greeley,    Horace,    Statue    of, 
17,  103. 
Square,   103. 
Greenwich   House,   74. 
Village,  68,  80. 

H 

Hall   of   Fame,  210. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,   Home 

of,   67. 
Hamilton   Street,  24. 
Hanover  Square,  15,  16. 
Harlem,   193. 
Heights,  195. 
River   Driveway,  199. 
Hartley   House,   146. 
Health  Department,  104,  111, 

153. 
Hebrew    Charities,    110. 
Technical    Institute,    63. 
Technical  School  for  Girls, 
41. 
Hell   Gate,  186. 
Hell's   Kitchen,  142. 
Herald    Square,    103. 
High   Bridge,   200. 
Historical   Society,   62. 
Home     for     Old     Men     and 

Aged   Couples,   195. 
Home   for   the   Friendless   of 
the      American      Female 
Guardian   Society,   40,   52, 
151,  172,  190,  212-214. 
Horace  Mann  School,  196. 
Hospitals: 
Babies',  138. 
Bellevue,   42,  111. 
Child's,  138. 
Floating,  128. 
Fordham,   112. 
Gouverneur,  112. 


Harlem,   112. 

Lying   In,   108. 

New  York,   91. 

Nursery    and    Child's,    137. 

Orthopaedic,   173. 

Post    Graduate,   109. 

Presbyterian,    179. 

Roosevelt,   162. 

Skin  and  Cancer,  109. 

St.   John's,   35. 

St.    Luke's,  194. 

Willard    Parker,   104. 
House  and  School  of  Indus- 
try, 91. 

Of      the      Transfiguration, 
103. 
Hudson  Guild,  97. 
Hunt  Memorial,  179. 


Improved     Dwellings     Asso- 
ciation,  183. 
Housing,    39,    42,    71,    163- 
165,  181-183. 
Industrial       Christian       Alli- 
ance,  71-73. 
Home   of   Salvation   Army, 

96,  97. 
School  for  Girls,  56,  57. 
Schools,   see  American  Fe- 
male    Guardian     Society. 
Schools,       see       Children's 
Aid    Society. 
Immigrant   Girls*   Home,  12. 
Italian,      Society     for     the 

Protection  of,   13. 
Italian,    Work   Among,   22. 
Temporary   Homes   for,  12, 
13. 
Infant  Asylum,  1G3. 
Institutional    Church,    What 
It  Is,  131. 
Work        of       All        Souls' 
Church,   178. 
Church  of  Sea  and  Land, 

23. 
Brick  Presbyterian 

Church,   134,   193. 
Broadway         Tabernacle, 

142. 
Fifth      Avenue      Baptist 

Church,  147. 
De  Witt  Memorial,  50. 
Fifth  Avenue  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  137,  181. 
Grace  Church,  83,  84,  85. 
Tudson  Memorial,  73,  74. 
Madison  Avenue  Re- 
formed,  140,    172. 


220 


Index. 


Pro-Cathedral,   50. 

St.    Augustine's    Church, 

47. 
St.    Bartholome  w's 

Church,  132-134. 
St.       George's       Church, 

105-107. 
St.      Thomas's      Church, 
172-173. 
Institutions   for  the   Instruc- 
tion    of     the     Deaf     and 
Dumb,  180,   200. 
International     Medical     Mis- 
sionary  Society,   128. 
Order     of     King's     Daugh- 
ters  and   Sons,   92. 
Isabella   Heimath,   202. 
Isle  of  Safety,   100. 
Italian    Immigrants,    Society 
for     the     Protection     of, 
13,  21,  22. 


Jacob  A.  Riis  Neighborhood 

Settlement,  22,  23. 
Janitors'    Society,  38,   49. 
Jefferson    Market    Prison,  79. 
Juvenile   Asylum,    201,   202. 

K 

Kindergarten  Association, 
41,  42,  68,  72,  75,  144. 

King's  Daughters  and  Sons, 
International  Order  of, 
92. 

Kitchen  Garden,  123. 


Ladies*   Christian  Union,  81. 
Leake  Dole  of  Bread,  35. 
Lectures   in   Public   Schools, 

177. 
Legal   Aid   Society,   11,   17. 
Leo  House,  11. 
Libraries:— 

Aguilar,   190. 

Astor,  143. 

First  Carnegie,  185. 

For  the  Blind,  170. 

Italian,    Free,   90. 

Lenox,  143,  178. 

Mercantile,   85. 

Mott    Memorial,   114. 

Seaman's   Loan,  15. 

See    Public   Library. 

Society,    82. 

Tilden,    144. 

Traveling,   170. 


Lincoln,  Abraham,  Statue 
of,  126. 

Little  Church  Around  the 
Corner,  114. 

Little   Italy,   268. 

Little  Mothers'  Aid  Asso- 
ciation,   106. 

Loan  Society,  Provident, 
124. 

Long  Acre   Square,  142. 

Lutheran  Emigrant  House 
Association,    12. 

Lunch  Wagons,  11,  85,  93, 
111. 

M 

McAuley,   Jerry,  20,   21,   103. 
McGowan's    Pass,    161. 
Manhattan      Trade       School 

for    Girls,    77,    78. 
Marble   Cemetery,   57. 
Margaret    Fahnestock   Train- 
ing   School    for    Nurses, 
109. 
Margaret  Louisa  Home,  170, 

171. 
Marine  Society,  13. 
Mariners'    Church,    22. 

Temple,    22. 

Mechanics    and    Tradesmen, 

General    Society    of,    199. 

Medicine,    Academy    of,    198. 

Medical    Missionary   Society, 

International,    127. 
Memorial  to  Richard  Morris 

Hunt,   249. 
Mercantile   Library,   85. 
Meteorological  Observa- 

tory,  156. 
Metropolitan      Museum       of 
Art,  157-160. 
Temple,  78. 
Mills   Hotel,  48,   70,  71. 
Missions: 
And    Tract    Society,     New 
York,  City,  50,  57,  63,  89. 
Colored,   101. 
Episcopal,   142. 
Five  Points,  32. 
Fresh  Air,  181. 
Florence    Crittenden,    87. 
Foreigners*   28. 
Galilee,  111. 
Grace,   67. 

House       of      the       Trinity 
Church     Association,     36. 
Howard,  64. 

Madison     Square     Presby- 
terian Church,  113. 


221 


Index. 


Of   Our   Lady    of   the    Ro- 
sary,   12. 
.Rescue,  133. 

St.    Bartholomew's,  132-134. 
Societies,    142. 
Sunshine,   142. 
Trinity      Church      Associa- 
tion,  36. 
Tombs  Gospel,  33. 
Vermilye,    149. 
Missionary    Societies,    127. 
Society,  Congregational 

Home,    122. 
Society,     Protestant     Epis- 
copal  Church,   11,  16,   23, 
142,  188. 
Missions,    Home,   122. 
Model    Tenement,    First,    39. 
Tenements,    39,   42,   71,   163- 
165,  181-183. 
Monument    to    Soldiers    and 

Sailors,   167. 
Morris   Mansion,    200. 
Mosholu    Parkwav,    204. 
Mulberry   Bend,   29. 
Municipal    Art    Society,    100, 
140,  152,  179. 
Lodging    House,   111. 
Museum   of  Art,   157-160. 
Of     Natural     History,    168, 
169. 

N 

National     Academy     of     De- 
sign,  193, 
Arts    Club,    140. 
Plant,     Flower     and     Fruit 

Guild,   8L 
Sculptors'    Societies,    140. 
Temperance    Society,    93. 
Natural      History,      Museum 

of,  168,  169. 
Newsboys'    Lodging    House, 

19. 
New  York  City  Mission  and 
Tract     Society,    118. 
Hospital,    91. 
Port    Society,    22. 
Trade    School,    146,    181-183. 
University,    209,    210. 
Normal      College      Alumnae 

House,  184. 
Nurses'    Settlement,   41. 
Training  School  for,  109. 


Obelisk     in     Central     Park, 
160. 


Olive  Tree  Inn,  111. 
Olivet   Memorial    Church,  57. 
Orthopaedic    Dispensary  and 
Hospital,  172-175. 


Paintings     in      Metropolitan 
Museum   of   Art,    157-160. 
Pascal    Institute,    136.  .  i^ 

Pasteur   Institute,   98. 
Pawnbroking,    124. 
Parks : 

Audubon,  198. 

Avenue  Tunnel,  128. 

Battery,    9. 

Board,   156. 

Bowling   Green,   12,   154. 

Bronx,    203-208. 

Bryant,   143. 

Central,   154-161. 

City  Hall,  16,  154. 

Claremont,   209. 

Cooper   Union,    59. 

Corlears   Hook,   39. 

Crotona,   208. 

Development,  154. 

De  Witt   Clinton,  147. 

East   River,   186. 

Fort   Washington,  202. 

Franz    Sigel,    209. 

Greeley   Square,    103. 

Hamilton    Fish,    52,    53. 

Herald    Square,    103. 

Jeannette,    16. 

Madison   Square,   115. 

Morningside,    193. 

Mount    Morris,    190,    191. 

Mulberry    Bend,    29,   30. 

Pelham  Bay,  208. 

Foe,   209. 

Riverside,  154,  167. 

Rutgers   Street,  26.  , 

St.  John,   69. 

St.   Mary's,  209. 

Seward,   43. 

Tompkins    Square,    55. 

Union  Square,  126. 

Van    Cortlandt,    203. 

Washington    Square,   73. 

Zoological,   204-206. 

Bowling    Green,    12. 

First    City    Hall,    15. 

In     Bronx     Borough,     203 
209. 
Pelham    Bay   Parkway.   208. 
Penny    Provident   Fund,   121. 


222 


Index. 


People's  Baths,  90,  118. 
Choral   Union,  82,   83. 
Home    Church   and    Settle- 
ment,   54. 
Singing    Classes,   82,   83. 
University     Extension     So- 
ciety,  76,   77. 
Physicians      and      Surgeons, 

College  of,   162. 
Playground  in  Battery  Park, 

11. 
Police      Association,      Chris- 
tian, 101. 
Port    Society,    22,    68. 
Practical    Aid    Society,    146. 
Preservation      of      American 

Scenery,    18. 
Prison  Association,  125. 
Pro-Cathedral,  50. 
Protestant      Episcopal      City 
Mission    Society,    46,    87, 
88,    142,    188. 
Provident   Loan   Society,  124 
Public   Baths,   90. 
Public    Educational    Associa 

tion,    145. 
Public    Library,    26,    54,    86, 
87,  144,   178,   185. 
Bloomingdale    Branch,   170. 
Bond    Street    Branch,    87. 
Chatham     Square     Branch 

26. 
George  Bruce   Branch,  142. 
Harlem   Branch,   192. 
Jackson     Square      Branch, 

76. 
Muhlenburg    Branch,    93. 
Ottendorfer    Branch,    61. 
System,   144. 
Washington        Heights 

Branch,   199. 
Yorkville    Branch,    185. 
School      Architecture.      33, 
39,  171,  186,   210,  247,  259. 
School,      Largest      in      the 
World,    52,   139. 


Railroad  Branch  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion,   131,    168,    211,    212. 

Recreation  Pier,  25,  52,  68, 
111,  147,  192,  ]98. 

Rescue  Home  of  Salvation 
Army,   105,  106. 

Richmond   Hill,   68. 

Riverside   Association,    166. 


Sabbath  Committee,  61, 
Sailors'    Home,    23. 

Work   for,    23. 
St.    Augustin's    Chapel,    48. 
St.    Barnabas'    House,    88. 
St.       Christopher's       House, 

179. 
St.       Chrysostom's       Chapel, 

140. 
St.  James's  Parish,  179. 
St.   John's   Burying   Ground, 
69. 
Chapel,   34. 
College,    213. 
Guild,    128. 
Lane,  35. 
Park    69. 
St.    Luke's    Home,    194. 
St.   Mary's  School  Ship,  112. 
St.    Paul's    Chapel,    36. 
St.     Thomas's     Church,     135, 
136,  137. 
House,  172,  173. 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society, 

86. 
Salvation    Army,    21,    22,    26, 
27,  78,  79,  96. 
Hotel,  26,  27. 
Industrial   Home,   96. 
Lodging  House,  26,  45,  47. 
Rescue    Home,    105. 
School    Architecture,    33,    39, 

171,  186,  192,  210. 
School  for   Cash   Girls,   79. 
School     of    Applied     Design 

for  Women,  99. 
School,  Public,  24. 
School      Ship,      St.      Mary's, 

112. 
Seamen's    Christian    Associa- 
tion,  68. 
Friend   Society,   15,   24. 
Search    for    the     Good,     119- 

122. 
Second    City   Hall,   16. 
Settlement,     Alfred     Corning 
Clark,   51. 
Amity,   149. 
Christodora,   55. 
College,    49,    184. 
Cooper,   104. 
Co-operative    Social,    74. 
East   Side  House,  184,  185. 
Friendly  Aid,  113. 
Gospel,    43. 
Grace  Church,  64. 
Greenwich  House,  74. 
Hartley   House,   146. 


22Z 


Index. 


Jacob    A.     Riis    Neighbor- 
hood, 22. 
Normal  College,  184. 
Nurses',    41. 
Paulist,   162. 
People's     Home      Church, 

54. 
Phelps,   127. 
Sunshine,  32. 
Union,    189. 
University,   49. 
West   Side,   142. 
West     Side     Neighborhood 

House,  147. 
What  It  Is,   48. 
Seward  Park,  43. 
Seward,   William   H.,    Statue 

of,  115. 
Sheltering  Arms,   197. 
Shipbuilders,    Academy    and 

Home   for,    211. 
Singing  Classes  for  the  Peo- 
ple, 82,  83. 
Sisterhood        for        Personal 

Service,    186. 
Sister    Irene's   Home,    180. 
Sisters    of     St.     Vincent     de 

Paul,  22. 
Site     of     Benedict     Arnold's 

House,  13. 
Slum      Post      of      Salvation 
Army,   21. 
Sisters  of  Salvation  Army, 
22. 
Social*  Betterment,   119-122. 
Service,      American     Insti- 
tute  of,   119,  122,  215. 
Settlements,       see      Settle- 
ments. 
Societies: 

For      the      Prevention      of 
Cruelty   to   Animals,   113. 
For      the      Prevention      of 
Crueltv   to   Children,   124. 
For  the  Protection  of  Ital- 
ian  Immigrants,    13. 
For      the      Relief     of     the 

Blind,    171. 
For     the     Suppression     of 

Vice,   18. 
Library,   82. 

Of    American    Artists,    151. 
Of     Decorative     Art,     127, 

128. 
Of   the    Lying-in   Hospital, 
108. 
Soldiers   and    Sailors*    Monu- 
ment,  167. 
Speedway,    The,  199. 
Speyer    School    of    Teachers 
College,  196,  197. 


Spuyten      Duyvil      Parkway, 

203. 
Squirrel  Inn,  45. 
State   Charities  Aid  Associa- 
tion, 124. 
Statuary       in      Metropolitan 
Museum    of   Art,    157-160. 
Statue   of   Abraham  Lincoln, 
126. 
Of  Admiral    Farragut,   110. 
Of  Chester  A.  Arthur,  110. 
Of     Horace     Greeley,     17, 

103. 
Of  John   Ericsson,   10. 
Of    Roscoe    Conkling,    115. 
Of  S.   S.    Cox,   85. 
Of   Washington,   126. 
Of     Washington    and    La- 
fayette, 193 
Of     William     H.     Seward, 
115. 
Studio   Building,   75. 


Teachers*    College,   196. 

Technical    School    for    Girls, 
Hebrew,    41. 

Tenement    House,    First,    39. 

Tenements,         Model,         see 
Model. 

Thames     Street,     Origin    of, 
37. 

Theological    Seminary,    Gen- 
eral, 95,  96. 

Theological     Seminary,     Un- 
ion,  180. 

Trade      School,      Baron      de 
Hirsch,   180. 
Of     St.     George's     Parish, 

105. 
New  York,  146,   181-183. 

Trinity    Church    Association 
Mission,   36. 

Tribune     Fresh     Air     Fund, 
17. 

Trinity  Chapel,  100. 

Trinity  Parish,   34-38. 

Training    School    for    Chris- 
tian Workers,   63. 
For   Working   Girls,   136. 

Travel  Class,  146. 

U 

Union       Theological       Semi- 
nary,  180. 

United     Charities     Building, 
116. 
Hebrew  Charities,  110. 


MM 


Index. 


University  Heights,  209. 
New  York,  209,  210. 


Vacation  Schools,  176. 

Society,   97. 

Society,      Working      Girls, 
102. 
Van  Cortlandt  Mansion,  203. 
Vauxhall    Garden,   86. 
Veterinary    College,    149. 
Vice,    Society    for    the    Sup- 
pression  of,   18. 
Volunteers   of   America,   59. 

W 

Warner   Memorial,   153. 

Warren  Goddard  House,  113. 

Washington    and    Lafayette, 
Statue  of,  193. 

Water   Color   Society,  Amer- 
ican, 193. 

Washington       Headquarters, 
139. 
Heights,  202. 
Square,  73. 

Square    Methodist    Episco- 
pal Church,  74. 
Statue   of,   126. 

Washington   Arch,    73. 

Washington's    Headquarters, 
139. 

Webb's  Academy  and  Home 
for    Shipbuilders,    211. 

Wilson  Industrial   School  for 
Girls,  56. 

Woman's    Home    Missionary 
Society,  12. 


Work,    Exchange   for,   131. 
Prison      Association      and 
Home,   58. 
Woodyard     of     the     Charity 
Organization  Society,   96. 
Working  Girls'  Clubs,  39,69, 
97,  101. 
Homes,  97,  103. 
Societies,     Association     of, 

39,   69,   97,   101. 
Society,    Manhattan,   139. 
Vacation  Society,   102. 
Working     Women's     Home, 
14. 
Protective  Union,  80. 
World's   Fair  in   New  York, 

143. 
Worth,    Major-General,    Me- 
morial to,  115. 
Tablet,  142. 


Young   Men's    Christian   As- 
sociation,   45,    46,    61,   98, 
100,  114,  168,  187,  191, 198, 
211,  212. 
Hebrew     Association,     187- 

189. 
Institute,  47. 
Young     Women's     Christian 
Association,  126,  127,  142. 


Zoological   Garden,  204. 
Park,  204-286. 
Society,  204. 


qp 


Patteson  Press 
New  York 


225 


American  Institute  of  Social  Service 

287  Fourth  Avenue,  near  Twenty-third  Street, 
New  York. 


THE    INSTITUTE. 


Wm.  H.  Baldwin,  Jr. 

Mrs.  Andrew  Carnegie 

Washington  Choate 

Edgar  E.  Clark 

William  R.  Corwine 

R.  Fulton  Cutting 

Mrs.  Mary  Lowe  Dickinson 

Lee  W.  Dodd 

Miss  Grace  H.  Dodge 

Robert  Garrett 

Franklin  H.  Giddings 

Richard  Watson  Gilder 

E.  R.  L.  Gould 

P.  C.  Hale 

Miss  Caroline  Hazard 

Mrs.  Phoebe  A.  Hearst 

William  B.  Howland 

John  S.  Huyler 

James  H.  Plyde 

M.  E.  Ingalls 


Mrs.  Darwin  R.  James 
William  F.  King 
Edwin  A.  McAlpine,  Jr. 
Stanley  McCormick 
Henry  M.  McCracken 
V.  Everit  Macy 
Robert  C.  Ogden 
Walter  H.  Page 
Isaac  N.  Seligman 
Albert  Shaw 
Miss  M.  Carey  Thomas 
Mrs.  Wm.  H.  Tolman 
Spencer  Trask 
Warner  Van  Norden 
Mornay  Williams 
Talcott  Williams 
Mrs.  Mary  E.  Woolley 
Carroll  D.  Wright 
Josiah  Strong 
Wm.  H.  Tolman 


ASSOCIATES. 


Miss  Jane  Addams 
Mrs.  Tunis  G.  Bergen 
Mrs.  Frederick  Billings 
John  Graham  Brooks 
Grover  Cleveland 
Charles  W.  Dabney 
Charles  W.  Eliot 
Henry  W.  Farnam 
John  H.  Finley 
James,  Cardinal  Gibbons 
Miss  Laura  D.  Gill 


Daniel  C  Gilman 
Edwin  Ginn 
David  H.  Greer 
Edward  Everett  Hale 
William  R.  Harper 
Howard  C.  Heinz 
Charles  R.  Henderson 
Archer  M.  Huntington 
J.  W.  Jenks 
B.  F.  Johnson 
George  W.  Jones 


226 


David  S.  Jordan 
Herman  Justi 
John  La  Farge 
Frank  Leake 
Hamilton  W.  Mabie 
J.  Horace  McFarland 
Charles  D.  Mclvor 
M.  S.  de  Magny 
Mrs.  Daniel  Manning 
Darwin  J.  Meserole 
S.  M.  Patten 
Francis  G.  Peabody 

Clinton 


George  Foster  Peabody 
Henry  Phipps 
Ira  Remsen 
Theodore  Roosevelt 
Gustav  H.  Schwab 
J.  G.  Schurman 
Mrs.  Lorillard  Spencer 
Graham  Taylor 
Booker  T.  Washington 
Benjamin  L  Wheeler 
William  P.  Wilson 
Woodrow  Wilson 
R.  Woodruff 


OFFICERS. 

Josiah  Strong,  President 

Warner  Van  Norden,  Vice-President 

William  H.  Tolman,  Director 

Spencer  Trask,  Treasurer 

Lee  W.  Dodd,  Recording  Secretary 


227 


American  Institute  of  Social  Service 


COLLABORATORS. 

Distinguished  students  of  social  subjects  are  elected 
for  one  year  by  the  Institute,  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Executive  Committee, 
as  Collaborators  of  the  Institute. 


AUSTRIA. 

Wilhelm  Exner,  Vienna, 
Director     Royal     Technical 
Trade  Museum. 

Adelbert  R.  Von  Stibral, 
Vienna. 

BELGIUM. 

E.  W.  Waxweiler,  Brussels, 
Director  Solvay  Institute 
of  Sociology. 

Louis  Varlez,   Ghent, 
Jurist   and    Sociologist. 

Omer   Lepreux, 
Director     of    the    National 
Bank  of  Belgium. 

Fl.  Hankar, 
Director     General     of     the 
National  Fund  for  Savings. 

J.   Dubois, 
Director  General  of  the  La- 
bor     Department      at      the 
Ministry    of    Industry    and 
Labor. 

Valiere  Mabille. 
Industrialist. 

Charles   Morisseaux, 
Directeur    General    du    Sec- 
retariat    and     des     Affaires 
Generales    au    Ministere   de 
rindustrie  and   du  Travail. 

Jules  Carlier,   Brussels, 

Vice-President  du  Conseil 
Superieur  de  ITndustrie  et 
du  Commerce  de  Belgique. 

CHILI. 

Augustin     Edwards,     Valpar- 


aiso, 
Industrialist. 


DENMARK. 

N.     C.     Frederiksen,     Copen- 
hagen, 

Author  and  Publicist. 
Victor  Holmes,   Copenhagen, 

Industrialist. 
Fernando  Linderberg, 

Direktor    det    Sociale    Sek- 

retariat  and  Bibliotek. 


ENGLAND. 

George     Cadbury,     Birming- 
ham, 

Industrialist. 
Wm.    H.    Lever,    Port    Sun- 
light, near  Liverpool. 

Industrialist. 
William  R.  Court,  Liverpool. 
John  Burns,   London, 

Member  of  Parliament  and 

London  County  Council. 
Robert  Donald,   London, 

Editor  and  Publicist. 
Arthur  Sherwell,  London, 

Author  and  Publicist. 
Sidney  Webb,  London, 

Member     London     County 

Council. 
John   B.   Paton,   Nottingham. 
Ebenezer  Howard, 

Garden   City   Association. 
The  Earl  of  Meath,   London, 

President    British    Institute 

of  Social  Service. 
James    Bryce,    M.    P.,    Lon- 
don. 

James    Dangerfield,    London. 


228 


FRANCE,  PARIS. 

Jules  Siegfried, 
Vice-President    Musee    So- 
cial; Deputy. 

Emile  Cheysson, 
Vice-President    Musee    So- 
cial. 

Alexis   Delaire, 
Secretary         La         Societe 
Reforme  Social. 

Edouard  Dolleans, 
Publicist. 

Jules  Jusserand, 
Ambassador     from     France 
to  the  United  States. 

Emile   Levasseur, 
Author  and  Member  of  the 
Institute  of  France. 

Raphael-Georges   Levy, 
Vice-President   of   the    Phi- 
lotechnic  Association. 

Leopold  Mabilleau, 
Directeur  Musee  Social. 

Henri   Mamy, 
Directeur    Association    des 
Industriels   de   France  con- 
tre    les    Accidents    du    Tra- 
vail. 

Georges  Picot,  Paris, 
Secretaire       Perpetuel      de 
I'Academie      des      Sciences 
Morales   et   Politiques. 

Louis   Riviere, 
Member  of  the  Administra- 
tive Council  of  the   Central 
Bureau  of  Charity. 

Ferdinand-Dreyfus,  Paris, 
Avocat  a  la  Cour  d'Appel 
de  Paris,  President  de  la 
Societe  Internationale  pour 
I'etude  des  Questions  d'As- 
sistance. 

Baron        d'Estournelles       de 
Constant,  Paris, 

Senateur,     Membre     de     la 

Cour  de  la  Haye. 
Prof.  Charles  Gide,   Paris. 
Georges    Benoit-Levy, 

Secretaire    Association    des 

Cites-Jardins  de  France. 

GERMANY. 

Theo.  Lewald,  Berlin, 

Imperial   Commissioner  for 
the  St.  Louis  Exposition. 


Emil   Muensterberg,   Berlin, 
President    General    Society 
for  Public  Charity. 

Max  Richter,  Berlin, 

Privy  Councilor  in  the  Im- 
perial German  Home  Of- 
fice. 

Dr.  Zacher,   Berlin, 
Head    of    the    Imperial    In- 
surance Department. 

Prof.    Dr.   H.   Albrecht,   Ber- 
lin, 
Mitglied     der     Verwartung 
der    standigen    Ansstellung 
fiir   Arbeitswohlfahrt. 

Dr.    Bielefeldt,    Berlin, 

Senats  Vorsit-zender  im 
Reichsversi  cherungsamt. 
Geheimer   Regierungsrat. 

Dr.    Klein,    Berlin, 
Regierungsrat. 

Prof.  Dr.   Hartmann,   Berlin, 

Dr.    Waldschmidt,    Berlin. 

Dr.    Wagner    Grossh,    Darm- 
stadt, 
Ministerium  d'Innern. 

Prof.  Dr.  Dunbar,  Hamburg, 
Direktor  des  Hygienischen 
Institut. 

Dr.   Wilms,  Posen, 
Oberburgermeister. 


HOLLAND. 

J.    F.    L.    Blankenberg,    Am- 
sterdam, 
President  Associated  Char- 
ities. 

M.    W.    F.    Treub,    Amster- 
dam, 
Director  Central  Bureau  of 
Sociological  Advice. 

J.   C.   Van  Marken,   Delft, 

Industrialist. 
Willy   Maartens,    Hague. 


HUNGARY. 

J.  G.   Mandello,  Budapest, 
Professor  of  Political  Econ- 
omy    and     General     Secre- 
tary   Hungarian    Economic 
Association. 


229 


IRELAND. 

Sir    Horace    Plunkett,    Dub- 
lin, 
Founder  Irish  Agricultural 
Organization  Society. 


ITALY. 

Count   Tornielli, 

Italian     Ambassador     from 

Italy  to  France. 
Marquis  Paulucci  de  Calboli, 

Councilor     of     the     Italian 

Embassy  in  France. 
Ernesto  de  Angeli,  Milan, 

Senator. 
On.  G.   Bacelli,  Rome, 

II    Ministro   per    L'Agricul- 

tura,  L'Industria  e  il  Com- 

mercia. 
Luigi   Buffoli,   Milan, 

Presidente  Unione  Co-oper- 

ativa. 
Prof.    G.    Dalla   Vedova, 
Rome, 

Presidente  Societa  Geograf- 

ica  Italiana. 
Luigi  Luzzatti,  Rome, 

Former      Minister     of      Fi- 
nance;  Deputy. 
Edmondo    Mayor    des    Plan- 
ches, 

Italian   Ambassador   to   the 

United  States. 
Prof.   Attilio   Brunialti, 
Rome, 

Consigliere   di    Stato,    Dep- 

utato. 

Prof.   Carlo  F.   Ferraris, 
Rome. 

Prof.  Guido  Biagi,  Florence, 
Bibliotecario  Delia  Med- 
iceo-Laurenziana  E.  Delia 
Riccardiana. 

Diomede   Carito,   Naples. 


JAPAN. 

Kotaro  Shimomura,   Osaka, 
Chemist. 

Baron  Kentaro  Kaneko,   To- 
kio, 
Member  House  of  Peers. 
Seiichi  Tegima,   Tokio. 
Heromich  Shugio,  Tokio. 


NEW  ZEALAND. 

A.    S.   Paterson,   Dunedin, 
Industrialist. 


SCOTLAND. 

Patrick  Geddes,   Edinburgh, 

Author     and     Professor     of 

Botany,   Dundee. 
Mrs.   Dr.   Kerr,  Edinburgh, 

Edinburgh  Social  Union. 
John  Mann,  Jr.,  Glasgow, 

Secretary    Workman's 

Dwellings  Co. 

Dr.  John  Ross,  Dunfermline, 

Solicitor. 


SWEDEN. 

Arthur  Thiel,  Stockholm, 
Sociologist. 

Miss   Gerda   Meyerson, 
Stockholm, 
Centralforbundet,     for     So- 
cialt  Arbete. 


SWITZERLAND. 

Prof.   Wuarin,   Geneva, 
University  of   Geneva. 


230 


Uax  Students 


1!  The  Extension  Courses  for  I,ay  Students  were  established  by 
Union  Theological  Seminary  in  1901  for  Sunday-School  Teachers,  parents, 
and  other  Christian  workers  and  inquiring  laymen 

^  The    courses    given   are   in  the  English   Bible,    Sunday-School 
Teaching,  Missions  and  New  Testament  Greek. 
r  The  Schedule  consists  of  single  courses  of  one  hour  a  week  each, 
which  are  from  six   to  twenty- four  weeks   in    length,  and  conducted 
between  the  first  of  November  and  May. 

"■  Matriculation  may  be  made  for  either  one  or  more  courses  as 
desired. 

^  Classes  are  localized  at  the  Seminary  and  various  churches. 
^    T  Similar  Classes,  with  the  same  privileges  and  longer  courses,  are 
conducted   by  the   Director  of  the   Seminary's    Extension   Courses   at 
Teachers  College  of  Columbia  University,  and  the  Brooklyn  Institute  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  Brooklyn. 

%  The  enrollment  has  been  afctout  four  hundred  and  thirty-five  persons 
every  winter. 

^  For  printed  announcement  and  further  information,  apply  to 
Richard  Morse  Hodge,  D  D,  Director  of  Extension  Courses  for  I^ay 
Students,  Union  Theological  Seminary,  Park  Avenue,  69th  to  70th  Streets, 
New  York. 


231 


^^I^%  _  el^.a.^f 


"^--r  ^#.A'.^  «-^. 


^  ■pip^* 


A  Group  of  Friends  and  Neighbors  of  "Living  Water"  Mission. 

At  136  Christie  street  is  the  IMission  of  the 
Living  Water,  founded  in  1894.  The  work  was 
for  many  years  in  charge  of  the  first  missionary, 
John  Jaeger,  a  very  able,  but  uneducated  man, 
converted  from  a  notoriously  evil  life.  Its  founder, 
though  in  feeble  health,  still  lives  in  apartments 
over  the  Mission  rooms,  while  the  Mission  is  in 
charge  of  an  acting  missionary,  assisted  by  earnest 
helpers  from  the  neighborhood,  who  maintain  the 
regular  and  well-attended  meetings  every  evening 
and  on  Sundays.  The  IMission  is  essentially  for 
the  spiritual  needs  of  the  crowded  neighborhood 
in  which  it  is  conducted,  and  has  been  supported 
since  its  founding  by  the  voluntary  contributions 
of  Christian  people. 


Omitted  from  page  46. 


232 


h'^>^-  ■  ..■ 
'Asa.'-  -'  '>;■  ■ ' 


